Inheritance
by RichieAvatar
Summary: A Space:1999 continuation, set 25 years after the events of the convention film 'Message from Moonbase Alpha'


SPACE: 2099  
GENERATION ALPHA 

**_INHERITANCE_**

**Chapter One**

_45 years ago, as time was counted on Earth, our journey began. Launched into deep space due to human error, trapped on a barren moon with no way to return home and unable to control our flight, we wandered. For 20 years we drifted, surviving countless dangers, encountering fantastic vistas and phenomena no human has ever conceived. Then, virtually overnight, everything changed. Without warning or explanation, our life support systems began to fail. A gravitational anomaly diverted our moon to a habitable solar system, and we had no choice but to evacuate. With no idea what was waiting for us, we left the moon and the small base that had been our home to make a new life on a new world. _

_ Much has happened since then. We have begun to tame our world, building a community, a life. While similar to our original home, this planet is wilder, more extreme. It has been hard, but we are thriving. Many of us have begun families; something long denied us during our struggles in space. It has brought joy and meaning to our lives, and hope for the future. We teach our children of our old home, and the adventures that brought us here. And now, 25 Earth years after settling this world, we can give them a first hand look at our old existence. For the moon that was for so long our home is returning, it's course around our new sun bringing it full circle... ... _

_ - From the journal of Helena Russell_

"Hey, cobber. How's it going?"

Mentor Verdeschi looked up from the telescope he'd been calibrating to see Alan Carter wheeling up to him, as always a grin on his face. It was often a mystery to the young man how the grizzled veteran pilot managed to keep his joviality in the face of the crippling injury that robbed him of the use of his legs, nearly ten years ago. Nothing seemed to faze him.

"Everything is going fine. Weather patterns appear to indicate clear skies for several nights. Visual sightings confirm computer predictions as to the moon's position and anticipated trajectory. It should be quite splendid viewing." The young man replied.

Carter chuckled. "You take too much after your mum. Your old man knew how to lighten up; you should try it some time." He rolled up to the telescope. "Let's have a look."

Mentor adjusted the height of the telescope to accommodate Carter's wheelchair. Alan pointed the scope towards the early evening sky and peered into the eyepiece. "Alright, then…..if I remember correctly, the old girl should be right….about…..there!" He laughed in triumph as a bright speck sharpened into focus, resolving into the minute, battered visage of Earth's moon. The view wasn't great, but would improve as the sun went down.

"Ah……I almost miss her." Alan mused, waxing nostalgic as he watched. "Sure, it was hard sometimes, but oh, the adventures we had…."

Mentor watched the old man with bemusement. "I find it hard to believe anyone could be nostalgic about living each day in an artificial environment, under constant threat of death if something failed or broke down. Certainly conditions here are far better than they were on Alpha."

Alan looked up at the young man, studying the features of his face. The upswept, mottled eyebrows that betrayed his Psychon heritage, inherited from his mother……the strong chin and dark hair that came from his father. The dark eyes filled with equal parts intellect and passion, a mix of both parents. He smiled, but his eyes held a somber undertone. "Different, maybe, but I wouldn't say better. Sure, on Alpha we had to worry about failing life support systems, hostile aliens, and the occasional explosive decompression or Eagle crash……but here, you have tornadoes, monsoons, earthquakes, and the odd virus or disease. You never had to worry about a depressed immune system due to living for years in a controlled, sterile environment. We nearly lost half our population the first year here, due to exotic germs we had no immunity to. In some ways, life on Alpha was easier…….but if I had the choice, I wouldn't change anything. This place has been good to us, too."

His expression brightened, and he gave Mentor a friendly clap on the shoulder. "Come on; let's go tell everybody the show's about to begin." 

The community had awaited the day of the Return with anticipation as the event drew nearer, and the approaching moon had brought with it old discussions, old conflicts. Many of the original Alphans had not wanted to abandon their former home, even knowing the dangers they faced from a failing life support system. Only the persuasive leadership of their commander, John Koenig, convinced them, and then only on the condition that, upon the moon's return, the possibility of returning to the moonbase was discussed. John Koenig himself was many years' dead now, but his promise remained in the minds of many of the original Alphans….and they now looked to his inheritor, his daughter Jessica, to carry out that promise. 

Jessica Koenig was the recognized leader of the new generation of Alphans, and the weight of that burden felt especially heavy today. So she did what she always did when she was troubled or weighed down with responsibility and needed to relax, unwind….she swam. Water was plentiful, given that it rained almost constantly nearly half of the planet's year, which was half again as long as an Earth year. So there was no objection to setting aside one of the many small lakes within walking distance of the colony for recreational purposes. In fact, the objection would have been to there not being one for recreation; water conservation on the moonbase had been so severe, there was no allowance for things like swimming, which had been taken for granted back on Earth. Now that they had that luxury again, they wanted to take full advantage of it. Of course, Jessica and her generation had never known the hardships of life on the moon, so didn't think about such things. All she knew was that being in the water helped her relax, to think. And there was much to think about. She was so lost in thought, in fact, that she took no notice of the fact that she wasn't alone until she was ready to get out and saw him on shore.

Nicholas Morrow was a giant of a man, tall and broad shouldered, muscular from years of hard work tending fields and constructing whatever buildings might be needed by the community. While all the Alphans were lean and muscular, merely from the day-to-day chores of their existence, Nick was just naturally big. Many would find his size intimidating, if he hadn't had the disposition of a teddy bear, as many of the elder Alphans had remarked. He was the kindest, most gregarious and gentle person in the colony, until his beliefs or his friends were challenged. In that, he took after his father…..a man none of his generation had ever met or knew outside of stories told by their parents. 

Paul Morrow had died many years before the Alphans had colonized their new home, but due to a program instituted by Helena Russell, Jessica's mother and former Chief Medical Officer of Moonbase Alpha, his genetic material was preserved, as was every Alphan's, for later use in propagation in the event a new home was found. She had gotten the idea from an encounter they had had with a generational starship, the S.S. Daria. It bore the survivors of a dead world, carrying the genetic inheritance of their entire race, the gene bank, to a new home. Their ship had been crippled by an explosion, and they had survived for hundreds of years in a closed community, feeding off the radiation-mutated descendants of their own kind once their resources ran out. It was this event that galvanized the Alphans to find a home and avoid a similar fate, but Dr. Russell had believed the idea of a gene bank to be a sound one, so she petitioned the commander to allow her to freeze seminal and ova samples from the population, so they would still be able to have children even in the event of some catastrophe, or should the search for a home take longer than the natural child-bearing cycle. 

Shortly after colonization of their new home, Terra Alpha, each Alphan couple was encouraged to have 2 children; this was determined to be the maximum allowable until the colony was viable enough to expand. Some only had one, medical reasons preventing a second. Others, like Dr. Russell, had twins their first time. A select few, like Nicholas' mother, Sandra Benes, had no partner…..her last relationship, with pilot Alan Carter, ended shortly before planetfall. So she and those like her chose to conceive from the saved genetic stocks…..for Sandra, specifically that of Paul Morrow, whom she'd loved almost from the start of their journey until his untimely death. She gave Nick the Morrow name as a remembrance, and from the start, Nick had inherited his father's looks, right down to the dark brown hair, eyes, and statuesque frame. As he had no living father, those men closest to Paul unofficially 'adopted' Nick, helping raise him as if their own, including Commander Koenig and Alan Carter. 

Jessica looked up at the big man crouching at the side of the bank grinning down at her, and returned the infectious smile, in part due to the feelings the sight of him always provoked in her. It had come as no surprise to anyone when they became lovers; they had been close friends since childhood, and had only gotten closer during their turbulent adolescence. He was always the first one she'd turn to when she needed to talk, and never judged her or spoke down to her. Oddly enough, she was the last to come to the realization that Nick was right for her; it wasn't until her third failed relationship attempt that she even considered the idea. Nick had been patient, waiting for her to come around on her own, knowing she had to come to the realization herself. Admitting that to her, later on in the relationship, had earned him a good thumping.

"Hard day?" He asked.

"You've no idea….." She moaned, pulling herself up onto the embankment. Nick quickly turned around and held out the towel he'd brought with him. Jessica looked back and laughed. "You are so cute when you do that…but it isn't like you haven't seen everything before…"

Nick could feel the flush of his cheeks. "Well , if you'd just wear a bathing suit like everyone else…" He countered, weakly.

"Allison doesn't, either…" She came back, taking the towel from his hand and drying her shoulder-length blonde hair before wrapping it around herself.

"Yes, she does…it just comes off quickly whenever David's around…"

Jessica chuckled again at the thought. The various means by which her friend Allison Carter sought to attract the attention of her sibling, David, was an endless source of amusement to her, mainly due to David's steadfast resistance to said advances. She came up behind Nick and wrapped her arms around him.

"Is it because you're ashamed of my body, or you just don't care for the fact that anyone and everyone can see it?" She asked, in a teasing, provocative tone.

"I thought we were discussing your bad day…" He said, changing the subject.

Jessica smiled, and leaned up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You're so sweet…ok, you're off the hook. This time…" She let him go and started gathering up her clothes. "It's the Return, of course. Half the colony elders want to start talks about going back to the moonbase when it passes in a few days…which, of course, sparks an argument from the ones who want to stay, and the kids are stuck in the middle as always……" She turned to him. "I mean, why come to me about this? It's not like I was there during the Exodus to this planet…why can't they talk to mom? She was their doctor, after all…"

Nick smiled in sympathy and put his large hands on her shoulders. "Because you are the daughter of the man they looked up to, the one who saw them through twenty years of hardship, kept them going through each disappointment. Because you have the same leadership qualities he did. Because you're always the first to look for a solution to whatever problem comes along…"

"Ok, ok, I get the point." She moaned, in surrender. "But I can't make a decision like this…it affects everyone. Losing that many people is going to seriously impact the colony's long term survival, not to mention how the children of the ones wanting to go feel about it. Either lose their parents, or go with them and face a life of constant wandering in a small, artificial world surrounded by vacuum and rocks…some choice. Thanks, mom and dad!" 

Nick laughed at her sarcastic tone. "It's their choice, one your dad promised to let them make when the time came. I'm sure he expected to be here when it happened…but he isn't, and you're the one stuck with it."

She laid a hand on his, and rested her head on his broad chest. "I know…I just don't feel it's my place to make such an important decision…"

"The price to pay for being a community leader…it has to be discussed; Like you said, their leaving would take away a good deal of resources from the colony. It won't be your decision alone…the others will have a say as well. Just listen to both sides and try to be objective."

"How can I be objective? I grew up with these people…..they're my friends, my family. We're all family. How can I just let them go back to the life they had after all the years they've spent here, all they've done? You've heard the stories, just like me. You know how bad it was for them…and they aren't as young as they were then, either. It'll be even harder for them now…"

Nick moved back, holding her at arm's length. "Don't waste your arguments on me…tell it to them. Make your case at the meeting tomorrow night. Tell the ones that need to hear it…"

Jessica's eyes softened, and she smiled at him in gratitude. "You're right…I shouldn't be unloading like this at you. I'm just used to pouring myself out to you…"

"And I'm more than willing to listen, most of the time. But I just don't want you to use up all your good arguments on me, then have nothing left for the meeting…save the ammo for the real battle."

"Sage advice, as always…" She breathed, and leaned into him for a tender, lingering kiss.

After a few moments, Nick reluctantly broke the intimacy. "I actually came down here to see if you were going to be at the viewing later…it'll be the first real glimpse of the moon, and Mentor says there'll be an unobstructed view, for once…"

"I actually hadn't planned on it…another few days and it'll be visible day or night, and I'll certainly get enough of an eyeful of it during the discussions of the return….plus its planting season soon, and you know there's only a couple weeks window for that before the spring storms…." Her voice trailed off, both of them knowing full well she was only making excuses. "Fine. I'll make an appearance…but I won't promise to enjoy myself."

Nick laughed long and loudly. "Yes, ma'am." He said.

"Helena, David, hurry! Everyone will be there by now!"

Sandra's voice lilted through the air of the small dwelling as she flitted about, putting the finishing touches on various trays of food. Helena was working on a dipping sauce, while her son David was taking a dish from the oven. He quickly set it on the table beside Helena's tray.

"Okay, the…..what did you say these were again, mom?" He asked.

"Swedish meatballs…" She replied calmly.

"Well, whatever they are, they're done…remind me again how I got conscripted for this?"

"As I recall, you came over asking for a professional opinion on the possible medicinal values of a new root you'd found at the base of Mount Bergman, when Sahn arrived asking my help in making snacks and dinner for the gathering tonight. I figured since you were here, why should you miss out on all the fun?" She said, with the merest hint of a smile.

"Ah yes…..the old 'Since you're here….' guilt trip. You'd think I'd be on to that one by now…" He moved over and opened a small refrigerator. Pulling out a bowl, he took off the cover and examined the contents. "Your 'sour cream' is just about ready…."

Sandra reached for the bowl, and David handed it over. She caught a dab on a finger and tasted, wincing slightly. "You know, after forty plus years, you'd think I'd get used to the taste of soy milk…but I still miss the real thing." 

"Yes…I suppose it was too much to ask that we could find an animal here analogous to a cow…" Helena mused.

"What's a cow?" David asked.

"That's why you only got a 'C' in history…" Helena replied, without looking. 

Sandra giggled. "At least the seed stocks we brought from Alpha took well to the soil here…it would be truly a shame to give up on tomatoes and celery as well…" She said.

"If you overlook the higher than normal alkaline content, it's perfect…exceptionally rich in nutrients and minerals. After a bit of treatment, all the seeds took very well." Helena added.

"Are we done?" David asked, impatiently.

"In a hurry to get to the party, David?" Sandra asked.

"I can't imagine why…I'm sure Allison will be there…" Helena mused.

David hesitated. "You think so?"

Sandra looked at him, puzzled. "Of course. Why, don't you like her?"

Helena coughed back a chuckle.

David straightened, as if indignant. "I like her just fine…she's just so…" He made an expansive, thrusting gesture. "…forward."

"Really? I can't understand why…" Sandra said with a grin.

"After all, it's not like she's trying to get anyone's attention or anything…" added Helena.

"I think this is a good time for one of those 'strategic withdrawals' uncle Tony was always talking about…I'll see you two at the party…" David said, quickly leaving the room. 

Sounds of laughter followed behind him.

The gathering was in full swing, with nearly the entire community filling the clearing. Mentor was putting the finishing touches on a system that would project the telescope's view onto a large screen set up next to it. Sandra was playing the part of hostess, making sure everyone had food and/or drink, and most of the elder Alphans chatted about old times on the moonbase while their children either listened intently, or broke off into their own groups.

Mentor checked the last few connections, and leaned over to Alan. "It's ready." He said.

Alan smiled, and spun to face the crowd. "If I could have everyone's attention, please!" He announced loudly. The chatter died as everyone turned to face him.

"As you all know, twenty five years ago…" He began.

"Sixteen, by this planet's rotational period." Mentor added, interrupting.

Alan shot him a look, but continued. "Twenty five years ago, the decision was made to leave Moonbase Alpha behind and settle on this new world. Up until that time, we'd been through a lot on that old, battered moon…for many of us, it became a home. For some, it was their final resting place…"

For several moments, the assemblage was silent, remembering the many deaths over the course of their journey.

"But, time catches up to everything. The base that protected and sheltered us could no longer sustain us. So we had to leave, and wish it well on its journey. Now, tonight, like an old friend, Alpha has come back…if only for a little while. And so we gather here to say 'welcome back', and pay our respects, one last time…" He turned to Mentor. "Cobber?"

Mentor flipped a switch and the projector flared to life, the magnified image of the Moon dominating the screen. There were cheers throughout the assembled Alphans, and the younger ones viewed the scene with interest, finally seeing for the first time the vehicle by which their parents had come to this world, and had so many adventures on along the way.

"Feel free to have a look for yourself…it looks even better with the naked eye." Alan intoned, calling out for all the world like a carnival barker selling a main attraction. "You won't be able to see the base itself from this distance, but it's right about in here…" He pointed to a section of the moon's surface on the projection. "Right down inside Tycho crater…"

A line had begun to form at the telescope. Michael Fraser had been the first to rush up and see the sight for himself, and others had followed his lead. As people waited their turn, or mulled around the projection screen and listened to Carter's presentation, a now-dressed Jessica and Nick slipped into the clearing. She caught Helena's eye, and the elder simply nodded and smiled in acknowledgement. Jessica returned the greeting, and headed over to the refreshment table before others caught sight of her.

David was already there, putting together a plate of food. He only peripherally noted someone coming up beside him.

"Hey, Tiger." A voice called.

David looked up, then turned to the source of the voice. Allison Carter was there, holding a glass and filling it from the punch bowl. Her long, dark hair framed her lovely features perfectly, and accentuated her dark, tanned complexion, the result of her Australian/Italian heritage. She smiled, and offered the glass to him.

"Would you like some kaba juice? Fresh off the vine this morning…" She breathed.

David stared for several moments before speaking. "Thank you…" He said, taking the glass from her. Allison's hand lingered on his for a few moments before surrendering the drink. She smiled, glanced down for a moment, and laughed softly.

"Don't lose your balls…" She said quietly, as she walked away. 

David's face contorted in confusion, until he looked down and noticed that the plate he was holding was tipping, and his meatballs were on the verge of rolling off. He quickly righted the plate, and grabbed a napkin to clean up the sauce dripping off the edge. 

Jessica, who'd seen the entire exchange, walked up and began fixing her own plate. "Smooth, bro…very smooth…"

Nick chuckled. David just glared at them, then moved on.

"Hey, dad, look at this!"

Bill Fraser moved up to the telescope at his son's call. Michael stepped back to let him look. "I think there's something else following the moon!" The younger man exclaimed.

Several others turned to look at the projection more closely. Sure enough, there was a bright spot, just on the far edge of the moon's horizon, as if it were just coming around the satellite.

"I wouldn't say following…more like moving parallel…" Commented the senior Fraser. "What do you think, Alan?"

Carter wheeled up to the telescope and took a look. "Yeah…there's definitely something there. Good eyes, mate…"

Fraser watched the screen. "What do you think it is? A ship?"

"Unlikely. Even a ship of apparent size as that wouldn't have such a bright reflection…" Mentor chimed in.

"Seems our old friend has picked up a stray…"

"We should take readings, get a better look. I'd suggest taking an Eagle into orbit." Mentor advised.

Jessica, hearing the discussion, moved over to the group. "Eagle fuel is at a premium, and we need them for the mining runs up to the Tarsus range. Do you think this poses some kind of danger?

"Hard to tell…" Carter considered. "Our projections suggested the moon would pass fairly close to us. If this is some bit of debris that got caught up in the moon's gravity, there's no telling what it might do as it gets closer…our own gravity might pull it in as it passes. If it's big enough to survive re-entry…" He let the thought trail off.

Jessica thought a moment. "You're right; we have to be sure. Allison, Mentor, take Eagle seven and get what readings you can. Be as thorough as possible, but don't take too long. If this is something we have to deal with, every minute counts. We'll correlate all the observations down here and try to work out speed, trajectory and distance."

"Right." Mentor said, turning and moving through the crowd. Allison was already ahead of him, disappearing in the darkness.

"I hope this is all a wild duck chase…" David muttered.

"Me too…" Jessica agreed. To the side, she heard Carter and Fraser talking excitedly, spouting off numbers and equations. Around them, discussions sprang up over the new object; its origin, what it might be, what might happen…she looked to her mother and Sandra, silently communicating. Both understood; if the rumors got out of hand, it might create a needless panic….they began to circulate, trying to guide the mood back to one of celebration.

Jessica doubted their success.

Chapter Two   
  
When the Alphans had settled on their new world, they brought with them as much as possible from the Moonbase to ensure the greatest amount of resources with which to start a colony. Conditions on the surface were not initially favorable, but they were blessed with an abundance of natural resources readily available. Consequently, they were able to keep a reasonable number of their Eagle transports intact, for scouting, shuttling, and mining of distant mineral deposits as they were discovered. This also worked to the favor of the proponents of returning to the moonbase, as without Eagles, there could be no return. But while raw material for fuel for them was plentiful, the refining process was not; therefore, usage of the ships was kept to a minimum. So it was always a treat to watch one of the massive vessels launch itself into the sky, to quickly disappear into the green…it had taken many of the original Alphans years to grow accustomed to a sky that was green instead of blue, and some never did. The children, never having known anything else, could never understand what the problem was. 

So it was not unusual that, when the Eagle returned from its flight to take readings on the new object in their sky, its landing gathered a crowd. Even if the reason was more about their findings than the novelty of the landing itself. Mentor said nothing as he disembarked, heading straight for the central meeting hall. His face had been a mask of impartiality, which told the crowd nothing, as that was how he always appeared. Allison, on the other hand, tried to appear calm, but it was clear she was on edge…

"It's a comet."

Jessica, Alan, and Bill looked up from their expanse of photos and paperwork, filled with calculations and measurements, to regard the intruding half-Psychon. Mentor slapped down a sheaf of printouts and photos; detailed rundowns on size, speed, trajectory, spectral readings of the debris corona, every conceivable measurement and scan available. 

"Mass readings are inconclusive at this distance, but it's huge. And trajectory measurements suggest a deviation from lunar path of between ten to fifteen degrees."

"Ten to fifteen? At this distance?" Fraser gasped. He reached for a chart. "We've already calculated the moon's declination across our ecliptic at twenty-eight degrees. Factoring for orbital movement and speed…" He mused, grabbing an old style compass and marking out arcs. After a moment, he dropped the implement on the table with a loud thump. He looked around at all the faces, and pointed to an intersection of lines. "Even at the extreme ends of the margin, our gravity will still pull it in. Given size and speed, there's no way it'll bounce off the atmosphere. We're looking at an impact. A big one."

"All right…so what can we do about it?" Jessica asked.

"From what I see, not much. Nothing we have will stop or divert that thing…" Mentor remarked. "Our only option is to evacuate the colony. And the only safe place close enough is the moonbase."

"So the return-ists get their way after all? There must be another option…" Jessica protested.

"Like what?"

"You're the super-smart Psychon scientist…you tell me." 

"I just did."

"Cut and run? That's the best your 'superior intellect' can come up with?"

"Hey, now…this isn't helping, kids…" Fraser intervened. Both Jessica and Mentor glared at him.

"Shockwave…" muttered Carter.

"What?"

"Of course! Shockwave!" Carter yelled, his eyes wide as he turned to the trio. "Bill, you remember Operation Shockwave, right?"

"Vaguely…that was years ago." Fraser struggled to recall the memory.

"We detected an asteroid on a collision course. Professor Bergman came up with a plan to destroy it, by planting nuclear charges over its surface…" Alan explained.

"Oh, right…you barely made it out of the blast zone. Everyone thought you'd gotten radiation sickness, cause you started hallucinating afterwards…" Bill recalled. "But Shockwave happened later, with that planet…"

"Atheria, but that's another story…" Alan cut him off. "That's just how I remember it. Why can't we do the same thing here?"

"Probably because we have no nuclear charges…" Mentor replied.

"Not here…" Jessica muttered. "You left all that stuff back on the moon, didn't you?"

Alan smiled, seeing her on the same wavelength. "Just like your dad. There was no time to dismantle the reactors, and we didn't want to have to deal with nuclear waste issues here anyway. Everything's just as we left it. The generators, the dumps, everything."

"Of course…" Fraser exclaimed, catching on. "We go back to the base, rig a series of charges, set them on the comet at strategic points, and detonate. Simple…"

"Hardly. We'll need much more detailed information on the comet's composition to calculate the amount of explosives needed, determine minimum safe distances for detonation to protect Terra Alpha, not to mention those on the moon…" said Mentor, talking as much to himself as the others, his mind already racing with calculations.

"Which is why the moonbase makes the perfect staging area. The comet is still fairly close to the moon, so getting readings shouldn't be a problem, and getting the charges in place will be a helluva lot easier from there as opposed to here." Jessica finished.

Alan hummed in thought. "You'll need an experienced crew to get things up and running quickly. We only left basic services intact, in case we had to go back later on. Everything else was needed down here…"

"We should also consider the possibility of using Alpha as an evacuation center, until the danger has passed." Fraser suggested.

"No, too risky. The moon's velocity will make a return to Terra Alpha time-critical. The less people we have to worry about, the better." Jessica vetoed. "Alan, put together a team of essential personnel. Bill, if you would, make sure the Eagles are fuelled and ready to go…"

"Right." Fraser hurried off.

"What are we going to tell the others?" Mentor asked.

Jessica looked at him impassively. "The truth."

"Alan, we have to go!"

Carter looked up into the face of his former pilot and friend, Pete Garforth, now the spokesperson for the Returnists. "And some of you will. Just what we need to get the base operational again, coordinate the construction and placement of the charges, and eliminate the threat. That's all. We aren't going back to set up shop." He said with a vehemence that surprised even him.

"Not you, maybe…" Pete added. "Look, the more people you have, the faster the reactivation will go…and once the comet's destroyed, you can go back. All we're asking is to stay behind. That's all."

Alan shook his head. "I've never understood you, Pete. How can you want to go back there? That base was never a home…it was a bloody barracks! A tin can on a barren rock, flying through space on the whims of the universe! Why in God's name would you want to go back to that? Eh? Any of you…" He searched the faces of the other Returnists. "We have a life here…yeah, it's hard, but no worse than Alpha was…at least here, we can grow, expand, have families…there's no future up there on the moon."

"We aren't concerned with the future, Alan…not anymore." Tanya Alexander spoke up. "Look at us…look at yourself. We're old, Alan. Old and tired. The future's for our children, not us. All that's left for us is choosing where we want to spend our few remaining years…and we've chosen to spend them where we started, on the only link left to us of our real home, of Earth…please, Alan…"

"Look, we don't have time to debate this…I know we promised you a fair hearing about going back for good, but that comet's not going to wait around while we discuss it. Now, we're taking three Eagles…we need personnel to restart the reactors and computers, coordinate the operation from Command Center, and technicians rated in handling and construction of nuclear ordinance. Pick the best people for the job, and get them to the landing field pronto, got it?" Alan prodded.

"Yeah…we got it…" Pete replied, resignation in his voice. Carter spun around and wheeled off.

He'd only gotten a few meters when a figure came up beside him.

"You were pretty hard on them, don't you think?" Helena asked.

Alan looked up at her wizened features, older but still beautiful, and softened a bit. "Yeah, maybe…I just never understood what they saw in the old place. How anyone could prefer being marooned in a sterile, artificial environment to all this…" He waved an arm at the lush vegetation surrounding the camp. "I guess the idea bugs me more than I thought."

Helena smiled. "You know, someone once said that Tony Verdeschi was a man rooted in the earth, a rugged pioneer best suited to tilling the soil, working the land….but I think you've become quite the outdoorsman yourself in your old age. Not how anyone would have thought that brash, charismatic Eagle pilot of our youth would've turned out…" 

Alan chuckled and patted the doctor's hand, resting on his shoulder. "Yeah, well…times change, don't they?"

"So do people, in time…"

"Yeah…I suppose so…" Alan's expression turned wistful for a moment, then he straightened in resolve. "We better go see how those young pups are getting along…clock's ticking, after all…"

Helena looked after him, her face blank, as if lost in thought.

"I can't believe we're actually going to see it…" Allison said excitedly, checking over the Eagle's flight systems.

Mentor, working at the computer station, didn't even look up from the monitors. "It's not a joyride, you know. You won't have time for sightseeing…" He said gruffly.

"I didn't mean it like that…it's just….you hear the stories, all the fantastic things that happened, and it's all pretty unbelievable. Nothing like that happens here. Sure, there's all this technology and everything…..but it's not the same as actually being there, right where it all happened. Literally, another world…" The thought made her grin.

Mentor examined a readout. "Yes…another world traveling exceptionally fast. If these calculations are right, we have just two days to get up there, finish the mission, and get back before the moon's out of Eagle range of Terra Alpha."

Allison came back from the cockpit to look at the readings. "Two days? Why didn't you say so…plenty of time." She said, giving him a friendly clap on the arm. "Must remember my camera…"

Mentor looked up at her and shook his head. Allison just smiled.

"Let me see the trajectory projections…." She asked, turning back to the screens. Mentor punched a few buttons, and a series of line arcs appeared, detailing the projected movement of the moon, comet, and Terra Alpha on their various courses. Allison hummed in thought. "It's going to take most of our fuel just getting enough speed to get there….I hope they left some supply caches behind. We might be able to save some time and fuel by making a low orbit slingshot around the planet…"

"I'll run some projections." Mentor volunteered. "I must admit to a certain curiosity about the moonbase myself. It would be a fascinating opportunity to study the conditions they lived under, the limited resources they had to make do with…"

"I just want to see all the places I've heard so much about…I know there won't be much left, but I'm sure there's still plenty of stories it can tell…can't you just imagine what it was like?" She asked, energetically.

"Yes….an enclosed, tight knit community…isolated, stagnant, and dependent on a fragile, delicately balanced artificial ecology to sustain them….constantly facing danger and threat of extinction….I can't wait to see it." He intoned sarcastically.

"I meant about our folks….the little things that tell how they had fun, the times they shared, the activities that brought them together….fending off the loneliness, the despair…."

Mentor pondered for a moment. "There is that…..would make for a fascinating paper on the psychological effects of long term isolation on an enclosed community…" 

"Mmmm, yes….fascinating….quite the scientific case study…" Allison said, coldly. "Isn't there any emotional attachment to this for you at all? To visit the place your father called home for 20 years….to walk the same halls he did, every day….to see where he worked, where he enjoyed himself….hell, where he brewed his beer!" She laughed. "It was your mother's home, too, you know…."

"I'm well aware of all of that, Allie…" Mentor said, turning to her, his stoic expression softening for a moment. "And if the circumstances were different, I would dearly love to explore those connections….but I am trying to save the only home I have ever known…we have ever known… and there just isn't time to dwell on the past…."

Allison went to speak, but stopped. Her features smoothed, softening. "You're right…I suppose I've been trying not to think of what might happen….find the good in the situation, you know? I'm not mad at you, Mentor….just a little envious of your focus, I guess…."

"It's not always a good thing…." He replied. "And it's been very interesting seeing past that cocky veneer you keep up….to see the vulnerable, less assured side…thank you. Many of us were beginning to wonder if anything fazed you…"

Allison straightened and gave him a solid punch in the arm. "You are a cold, cruel beast, Mentor Verdeschi…." She said, and stalked back to the cockpit. Mentor just smirked, and went back to his calculations.

David came up the hill, following the well-worn trail through the underbrush, and paused just before the edge of the clearing. Just ahead, his sister sat, gazing out at the expanse of forested valley beyond. The hillside dropped off so steeply there, it was practically a cliff….and the view was awe-inspiring. On a clear day, you could see hundreds of miles, and as far as the eye could see was an ocean of trees; lush, thriving vegetation, untouched….no wonder it was Jessica's favorite spot to just sit and think. She could usually be found here in the early morning hours, just as the sun came up and the valley was still partially shrouded in mist, with only the tops of the tallest trees poking through the cotton waves….David often thought that only a poet could adequately put words to such a sight. But it was not the view that drew him here today. He took a seat next to his sister, and looked out over the valley with her. "They're looking for you, you know…" He said quietly.

"I know…" She replied, wistfully. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Very…." David agreed. 

"We shouldn't take things like this for granted, David. What we have here is a gift…a precious, fragile gift…we have to take care of it, appreciate it….don't you think?" She asked, looking at him. Her eyes shone with welled-up tears.

"Yes, I do. And I think this is the first time I've ever heard you speak so…..spiritually….." He smiled.

"I just….I wanted to come up here, one more time, and remind myself….what it is we're fighting for. What we're trying to protect. Things are happening so fast….I needed that perspective, you know?"

"Absolutely, sis…" David's arm came around her, and she leaned into him, embracing. "Mom would agree one hundred percent, too…glad to see something rubbed off on you…."

Jessica laughed softly, but with an undertone of sadness. "I don't always take after Dad, you know…." She sat up and looked at him. "David…..when was the last time you visited his grave?"

David dropped his head. "Jess…" He started.

"It might help you get some perspective….or maybe, at the very least, help excise some demons." She continued.

"I don't have demons." He shot back. "Yes, we had our differences, but…"

"Differences? David, you've resented him for almost 8 years….half your life, David." She pressed. "Half your life, resenting the fact that he spent more time with me than you….that I was his 'darling', and you kept getting lost in the background. I'm sorry for that, David. I didn't mean for it to happen….but it did, and maybe it's time you forgave him."

He gave a sharp laugh. "When did you take up counseling?"

Jessica let the hurt show on her face. "When I realized that we could well lose everything we have soon….that there may not be a happy ending at the end of this, and I don't want you carrying around any regrets you may not be able to let go of…."

"And what regrets would those be?"

"That you couldn't save mother….and end up pinning the blame for her loss on dad as well." She answered bluntly.

David was confused. "What?"

"David, you know full well that mom isn't going to leave him….and if we can't stop this comet…." She let the thought trail off. "I know how close you are to her….it's only natural….I love her too, and losing her would kill me inside…..but I don't know if you would survive it. And if you did, it would be only because you had to lay the blame for her death somewhere else….and where better than at the feet of dear old dad?"

"Ok, Jess, that's enough…" David spoke up, his tone getting angry.

Jessica held up a hand in surrender. "I'm sorry…..I didn't mean to get combative. I just…..I can see it happening, David, and I don't want you to have to go through that kind of pain. I care about you, little brother…."

"Hey!" He yelped, grinning. "You're a whopping 5 minutes older than I am, sis….knock off that 'little brother' crap…" He teased.

Jessica laughed as well, then became somber. "Make your peace with him, David. Before it's too late…."

"You talk like we're going to fail….nothing's going to happen. Our home will be safe…." He countered.

"I mean it, David…..please….."

He considered. "I……won't make any promises…" was all he could say.

Jessica sighed, and gave him a hug. "I love you, bro…" She whispered.

They broke the embrace and Jessica stood. "I suppose I should go see how things are doing….we're running out of time, after all…"

David picked himself up and followed her back down the trail towards the colony, his thoughts miles, and years, away.

"Mom, there is no need for you to come…"

Nick stood just inside the doorway, watching as Sandra stuffed items into an old duffel bag. Her expression was one of determination. "Yes, there is. This is my home, too, and I will not stand by and watch people I care about risk their lives trying to save it while I do nothing."

"Everyone feels that way, but not everyone's going. The point of taking a small group is to show that we don't intend to relocate en masse to the moon. That this is where we plan to stay, and this is what we're working to preserve…we need people here that can reassure the rest that things will work out, that everything will be all right." Nick argued. "Besides….I think I'm a bit old to need a chaperone…."

Sahn laughed. "It isn't about looking out for you, though I would worry less if I were close by….I know you can take care of yourself." She turned to him, reaching up to touch his face. "You've become such a fine man….your father would be proud…"

Nick smiled, and held her hand. "I wish I'd known him…"

"So do I…" She agreed. "You are very much like him."

"Mom….why didn't you marry and have kids like the others? Why have a child artificially?" He asked, suddenly.

Sandra turned away. "I….I know it's been difficult for you, not knowing your father…but I had my reasons."

"Was it because of Alan?" He asked. "I know you and he were close at one time…I see the way you still look at him, now and then…"

Sahn gave a sad laugh. "No, it wasn't that…not entirely. Alan was very sweet…we just drifted apart. Then, when the time came, and we started planning for children…I started thinking about Paul. About the plans we'd made…" She stopped, trying to regain her composure, the memories bringing tears to her eyes. Nick came up to her and put a supportive hand on her shoulder. She gave it a reassuring pat. "I was selfish…I didn't want that dream to die. I wanted some part of him, a piece of that life we dreamed of together. You were meant to be, and I very much wanted to make sure you had that chance."

Nick smiled wistfully, and hugged her. "Maybe you were selfish, mom….but I'm glad you were. And I think, somehow….dad might be, too."

"I hope so…" She whispered, and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Now, I better get finished packing if we're going to leave on time…"

Nick let her out of the embrace and moved back. "Mom….did Alan ask you to come on this mission?" He asked.

Sahn paused. "No…..he didn't. I think, in his own way, he is trying to protect me…"

Nick chuckled. "Well, then, it's no wonder you two never got together…if there's one thing you hate, it's being treated like a porcelain doll…He still cares for you…"

"I know he does…but I want to help. I can't do nothing…" She insisted.

"I know…well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him…you can go with Fraser's Eagle. I'll be co-piloting with Alan…" He came back and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you up there…"

Sahn nodded, and went back to packing as he walked out.

Carter grunted as Fraser pulled the straps tight, securing him in the flight seat. "All set?" The elder man asked.

"Yeah, I'm good…" Alan confirmed. "Hey….thanks for helping with the suit…"

Fraser smiled, and smacked him on the shoulder. "No problem. I'm just surprised these old things have held up so well…didn't think we'd ever need them again." He remarked, examining the bulky, orange spacesuit he wore. They would be necessary once they got to the moonbase, as any atmosphere it had after they evacuated would have long since bled away into space. "Just like old times, eh?" He commented.

"The good old days…" Carter agreed. "Hey….better get going. Time's a wasting, eh?"

"Right…" Bill stood and left the cockpit. "Hey, Nick…" He greeted, passing Morrow on the way out. The youngster was fidgeting with his suit as he took the co-pilot's position. "How did you stand these things? I feel like I'm wearing 50 pounds of canvas…"

Alan laughed. "Hey, don't knock it…it'll keep you warm and breathing until we get the base re-pressurized. Just wait…once we get there, it'll feel light as air…" He gave the man a wink and a smile, then turned to the control panels and went through the pre-flight checks. "Eagle One to Eagle flight. All systems check; ready for launch." He called over the comm.

On Eagle seven, Allison and Jessica were settled in, finishing their own checks. Jessica took a last look back at the passenger module, verifying people and equipment were stored, then sealed the cockpit. "Eagle seven ready for take-off, Alan." She confirmed. Allison adjusted her helmet, trying to push back stray locks of hair that kept trying to escape through the open visor. "I need either a bigger helmet, or a haircut.." She moaned.

The comm crackled to life. _"Eagle Five, ready for launch."_ Bill Fraser's voice reported. On the screen, they could see he and Mentor at the controls, also suited up.

"All ships form on me for orbital vector, then go to preprogrammed course for low-orbit slingshot…" Alan verified. In the background, they all could hear the whine of the engines as they cycled for ignition. The comm signaled as the other ships acknowledged. His hands closed around the control sticks, remembering the familiar feel. He looked over to Morrow. 

"Here we go…" He called, and fired the engines.

The entire community came out to watch the ships leave, waving and calling out well wishes as the Eagles threw themselves into the air, kicking dust in all directions as the powerful engines provided the lift necessary to push the ships free of the planet's gravity. Their future depended on the crews of those ships, and everyone wanted to show their support of their friends' and children's efforts. As the mass of people watched them disappear into the clouds, Helena Russell found Pete Garforth and pulled him to the side.

"I need your help, Pete…" She started.

**Chapter Three**

"Orbital insertion check." Alan verified. "Ready for slingshot." The other Eagles signaled their readiness as well.

Jessica peered out of the viewport at the spinning green expanse of her home and gasped. Allison looked over to her and smiled. "Haven't you been up here before?" She asked. "Once, as a little girl…before we had to start conserving Eagle fuel." Jessica replied, not taking her eyes from the sight. "It's beautiful." 

Allison nodded. "Yes, it is…" She agreed. A tone from her console stole her attention. "Slingshot course program running. Check your harness." As Jessica pulled herself from the view to check her safety straps, Allison called back to the passenger module and warned the others that the ride was about to become rough.

In Eagle Five, Fraser confirmed the course program was running and grinned widely. It wasn't often anymore that he got to indulge in real flying, and he missed it. As the cockpit started to vibrate with the increase in speed, he felt the old feelings return, the adrenaline pumping through him. It was times like these that he felt young again, alive. He looked over to Mentor, who was busying himself with his crash harness and holding onto the console for dear life. He looked a little green.

"Something wrong?" He called over the rising din.

Mentor gulped, trying to speak. "…motion sickness…." He finally managed. "That's why….I don't fly….much…"

Bill laughed heartily. "It'll be over soon…try not to think about it. Oh, and try not to get sick in your suit…that would be bad…" He offered.

Mentor's glare could melt neutronium. "I'll keep it in mind…" He droned.

Alan was also enjoying himself, as was Nick. Carter had introduced him to flying at an early age, before the accident that took the pilot's use of his legs; it was commonly thought throughout the community that Nick was second only to Allison in piloting skill. "Speed's increasing…" He called, watching the readouts. "Hull temperature rising. Gravity compensators at maximum…" He looked over to the elder pilot with a wide grin. "Now we're really flying, eh?" He said jovially, mimicking the Aussie's accent. Carter laughed. "That we are, lad…that we are…"

The Eagles skimmed the upper edges of the planet's atmosphere, glowing a dull red as friction heated the air…the slingshot course was precisely programmed to keep them from going too low in the atmosphere, to prevent friction from actually slowing them as opposed to increasing their speed….the trick was a steep enough descent to let gravity accelerate them, but shallow enough to let the atmosphere skip them off at the appropriate time. Fortunately, between Allison's piloting skills and Mentor's programming savvy, the flight was perfect, and the Eagles bounced out of their dive and shot out into the void on the opposite side of the planet, on an interception tangent to the rapidly approaching moon…still just a speck in the viewports from this distance.

As things calmed down aboard the ships, Alan checked in with the other pilots. "All right, we've got about six hours before we get to lunar orbit. Check your gear and make yourselves comfortable." He called. Nick unbuckled himself and stood up. "You want to go back and relax a while, Alan?" He asked. 

Carter shook his head. "Nah…I haven't been in a cockpit since…" He gave a knowing look. "Think I'll stay a bit, get used to it again. But bring back a coffee, eh?" He grinned.

"Sure thing…." Nick said, understanding. "Lots of cream, right?" Carter gave him a thumbs up. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, the fasten seatbelt sign has been turned off; you may now move freely about the cabin." Fraser joked. Mentor looked at him like he was an alien, totally confused. "An Earth joke…" Fraser replied. "Never mind. Why don't you go back and check the medkit; maybe something there can help settle your stomach…"

Mentor unlatched his harness and staggered to his feet. "I have to calibrate the scanners; I want to get some readings of the comet as we pass it. That should take my mind off my discomfort…" He opened the door and walked back to the passenger module. Fraser smiled. "Definitely his parents' child. As technical-minded as Maya, and stubborn as Tony…." He muttered.

"Everyone all right back here?" Mentor asked, entering the passenger section. A murmur of assents answered him. He turned to the computer console to see Sandra sitting there, grasping the sides of the table and looking as bad off as he. "Let me guess…motion sickness?" He asked.

Sandra nodded. "Airsick….why I went into space…" She managed. "Me, too." Mentor replied. "I was about to calibrate the scanners for the comet fly-by, try to take my mind off it. You're welcome to help…" He offered.

Sandra smiled. "That's very thoughtful. Thank you." She started to stand, but Mentor motioned for her to stay put. Grateful, she shifted to the side to give him room to work the equipment, offering pointers as they went.

An hour before their projected arrival, Allison ran a check on the flight systems and, content with the results, sat back and relaxed. "I don't get to fly near enough…" She remarked. Jessica looked over to her and scoffed. "You make most of the runs up to the Tarsus range, six times a year, and shuttle the weather monitoring crew on their bi-weekly meteorological surveys…if you really want more time, feel free to take some of Nick's shifts. I won't mind spending more time with him…" 

"I bet…" Allison smirked, with a sly twinkle in her eye. "How's that going, by the way? There's been talk of starting a pool on when you two are going to pay a visit to Father Ben Vincent's chapel…." 

"Ally!" Jessica started, in mock indignation. "Things on that front are just fine, thank you. I'm much more interested in when you're finally gonna corner my brother…that would be a much more interesting bet…"

Allison tossed a dismissive wave of her hand into the air. "That cold fish? I'm throwing him back. If he hasn't taken the hint by now…"

"Taken the hint? Ally, you practically molested him at the lake last month! You don't give hints, you drop sledgehammers!"

"I did not molest him…I merely asked if I could use his towel. I lost mine…" Allison said innocently.

"That happens a lot when he's around, I've noticed…" Jessica remarked. "Though you could have waited until he was done using it…."

"Where's the fun in that?" She chuckled. The console bleeped for her attention. "Course deviation, point zero-zero-five…" She read off.

"Correcting…." Jessica confirmed, taking the controls and adjusting their course back to programmed. "He does like you, you know…he's just a little put off by your brazenness. Tone down the aggressiveness a bit, and he might be more responsive…" She suggested.

"That's how I am….he'll get used to it. He wasn't so uptight when we first started hanging out together…" Allison argued.

"You were five!"

"So?"

Jessica just rolled her eyes.

The console bleeped again. Allison checked. "Course deviation….point zero-zero-six. What's going on?" She asked. Jessica shrugged, and again took the controls to correct the deviation.

The monitor came on, displaying Carter in Eagle One. "I'm getting a progressive course deviation here….anyone else reading it?" He asked.

"We're getting the same, Alan…" Jessica replied.

"So are we." Added Fraser.

"Could it be the moon's gravitation field?" asked Jessica.

"No, our course takes into account gravitational attraction, at least from there." Mentor called. "There must be something else in the relative vicinity, perhaps the gravitational anomaly that first brought the moon to this system…."

"Yeah, could be…." Alan mused. "We never did find out the source…keep an eye out for any unusual readings, cobber…"

Nick nodded towards the viewports. "Speaking of vicinity, we're getting close to the comet…."

Everyone looked up. Out of the starboard side port, they could see the blue-white of the comet, shrouded in a cloud of ice and gas and spewing a trail of vapor debris behind it. Behind it, slightly ahead, lay the moon. From their perspective, it appeared the two celestial bodies were drifting side-by-side, like runners in a race, despite the fact that, in actuality, thousands of kilometers separated them….and that distance was growing with every hour.

"You wanted to get readings….here's your chance…" Bill Fraser told Mentor, watching the awesome sight. Mentor nodded, and started pressing switches. "Activate scanners, Miss Benes.." He called.

Sandra smiled at the appellation, and initiated her console. "Scanners active. Readings coming in…." In Eagle One, Alan frowned. "Sahn? What's she doing there?" He asked. Nick looked over at him, sheepishly. "She insisted on coming…..you know how she can be…" He explained. Carter sighed and shook his head. "We're still getting drift, and it's increasing…." Allison reported. "Picking up a gravitational field, close aboard….point one G….localizing…." Jessica added. Mentor studied the readouts. "Surface cloud layers, ionized hydrogen, oxygen, xenon, trace gases….topography consists mainly of ice and crystallized carbon….core readings indeterminate…..mass…." He paused. "This isn't possible…."

Before anyone could inquire, all the ships began shaking. Anyone not in a seat quickly dove for one, strapping in. "Gravitational attraction increasing…..point two-five G…." Alan called, grabbing the controls and trying to still them.

"It's the comet….it's pulling us in…." Jessica called.

In the viewports, the comet suddenly dominated the field of vision, bearing down on them!

"Starboard thrusters, three-quarters power. Pull away!" Alan ordered. Nick's gloved fingers flew over the switches, then took up the dual flight controls, adding his efforts to Carter's. The comet seemed to suddenly veer to the right, disappearing from the viewports. The other Eagles mirrored the maneuver, turning sharply from the shimmering field of ice and rock….in moments, they were past it and closing rapidly with the battered, gray moon.

"What the hell was that?" Alan breathed, relaxing his grip on the sticks. "No comet that size has that kind of pull….it's not possible…."

"That's what I was about to say…." Mentor called. "According to the readings we were getting, the comet's core masses nearly a third that of the moon….and it's increasing…."

"That's insane!" Allison protested. "The scanners must be wrong."

"Could there be a malfunction?" Jessica asked.

Sandra's visage replaced Mentor's. "We ran a check of the system just before the first deviations. No fault was indicated…"

"Well, I didn't imagine fighting the controls to pull away…it definitely felt like something a lot bigger than what we were seeing…but how can the comet's mass be increasing?" Alan chimed in. "Comets lose mass as they near the sun….they don't gain it."

"This one's outbound….maybe the surface layers are refreezing, and throwing off the readings…." Nick suggested.

"Maybe, but that doesn't account for the total mass….I mean, look at it!" Mentor switched the monitor to a rear camera view of the comet. "The overall diameter is just under four kilometers. Even with a solid iron core, which this shouldn't have, the total mass wouldn't be anywhere near a third of the moon's….it's gravitational pull should be insignificant."

"So what does this do to our plan?" Jessica asked.

"I'll know more once we get to the base and reactivate its computers, but just at a guess….we may not be able to destroy it…." Mentor announced, gravely.

"Everything's set, Dr. Russell."

Pete led Helena to one of the larger colony buildings, a converted Eagle laboratory module, and ushered her inside. "As you know, this is mainly used to monitor temperature levels, ph balance, and other environmental factors throughout each of the colony's growing fields. It took a little time, but with some reprogramming, I was able to get what you wanted." He explained, leading her to a console at the back of the module. With a flip of a switch, the monitors on the wall lit up, each displaying a wealth of information. "We have access to the telemetry feeds from each of the Eagles and, once they're operational again, Alpha's interstellar band frequencies." He pressed another series of switches, and a steady, repetitive tone came from the speakers….the moonbase's automatic navigation signal.

Helena looked up at Pete and smiled. "Thanks, Pete. I appreciate it. What about the rest?" She asked.

"Oh, yes…" He remembered, and took out a sheaf of paper. "These are Mentor's original calculations, based on initial observations…..now, updating the figures from the Eagle telemetry…." He punched a series of commands into the keyboard, and watched the monitors. Numbers and diagrams flew across the screen. Finally, it resolved into a static graphic. "This is a simulation model, based on current information." He pressed a key, and the graphic went into motion. "This is the moon, that, the comet….and there we are…" He walked through the simulation, pointing in turn to each representation. "According to these figures, the moon will pass beyond Eagle range of us within 20 standard hours….by that time, the comet will have passed zero barrier. If they haven't planted and detonated the charges before then, it's too late."

"How much time will they have?" Helena asked, her face somber.

"Best estimates place detonation at no later than eighteen hours. Past that, there's a danger of radiation, and any surviving pieces too large to burn up in the atmosphere will be too close to deflect or destroy…" He said, mutedly.

"Eighteen hours…" Helena repeated. "Pete, there's one more thing I need your help with."

"Of course…name it…"

"I want to get the colony ready for evacuation…"

"On final approach now…" Alan reported. "Eagle Two, take pad three; Eagle Five, pad four."

"Confirmed." Came the replies from Fraser and Allison.

"Ordinarily, we'd have approach and vector telemetry from Main Mission….but since nobody's home, we'll have to go in manually…" He said, smiling at Nick.

Nick returned the grin and leaned forward to get a good look at the approaching base. "Alan…." He said, his voice questioning. "Did you guys leave the lights on when you left?"

A look of confusion crossed the pilot's face, and he punched up a sensor reading on the base. "Eagle One to flight. I'm reading active power sources coming from the base. Are you getting them?"

A moment passed. "Confirmed, One." Came Fraser's reply. "Base is definitely powered. But these readings are way above normal…." 

"This is crazy…." Alan said, exasperated. "The base was totally shut down. Her reactors were inert; she was completely dark. I'd stake my life on it…"

"Dad…" Allison called. "I'm not sure, but I think we're being targeted!"

No sooner had her sentence finished, than a warning tone blared through the cabin. Alan's expression became one of alarm. "Confirmed. Targeting scans detected. Evasive maneuvers!" He yelled, and yanked hard on the controls. The Eagles broke off in opposite directions, pulling away from the mysteriously active base. Nick held on for dear life, but kept an eye on the tracking monitors. "Reading laser turrets around the base perimeter, and missile emplacements along the crater ridgeline…." He called.

Alan was incredulous. "Missiles? We never had missile batteries…"

"Targeting scans locking on….we can't shake them…" Fraser reported.

"Pull out, Five!"

"Too late…..wait….." The comm was silent for a brief but agonized moment. "Targeting scans have ceased."

Nick checked his readings. "Confirmed. Lasers are retracting, missile batteries are going inactive…"

"Well, someone's down there…." Jessica said in passing. "…and they've decided not to shoot. An invitation, perhaps?"

"Invitation or not, we don't have a choice…" Mentor chimed in. "Even if fuel weren't a consideration, there's still the comet to deal with."

"Cobber's right." Alan added. "We came here to do a job….we can't let anything or anyone stop us. Come around; head for your assigned landing pads." Both ships acknowledged.

"Who do you suppose is down there?" Nick asked. Alan looked at him, his face grim. 

"I don't know…..but I intend to find out…"

The Eagles landed without further incident. To everyone's surprise (and apprehension), the boarding tubes extended as normal, like no time had passed and they were returning to a fully staffed base. Taking no chances, Carter ordered everyone to go to their internal suit air supply, and to proceed with weapons drawn. Nick carried him to the airlock while a motorized wheelchair was unloaded and set up. Carter usually preferred an ordinary one, but this would allow greater ease of movement, and keep a hand free for his weapon. Once they were ready, the airlocks were opened, and they stepped into the access tube. Everything looked as it had when the elder Alphans had inhabited the base; at the other end of the boarding tubes were travel tubes, which carried them to the main sections of the base…though many commented that the ride was much smoother than they remembered. The teams coordinated a central meeting area, and soon they were all gathered together.

"Sensors read a breathable atmosphere.." Mentor reported. "No foreign or dangerous elements, pressure is normal."

"This is different…" Fraser remarked, raising his visor. "The walls….they're darker, more muted…..they used to be white…"

Everyone followed suit and looked around. Indeed, the walls surrounding them were darker, a warm gray tone. The lighting panels remained, but the light was softer, warmer; not the harsh white the Alphans remembered.

"Everybody stick together….Command Center is this way…." Alan motioned. Hesitantly, they made their way through the corridors, the native Terran Alphans taking in everything, studying and remarking while the elder Alphans became more and more puzzled as they found their familiar home altered in subtle but no less confusing ways.

They reached Command Center, and Alan keyed the doors. They slid open to reveal a dark, disused room. All the stations were in place, computer terminals lining the walls….but inert, inactive.

"This is wrong…..we gutted this place….there shouldn't be anything here.." Alan breathed.

Mentor glanced inside. "These don't appear to have been used in some time. Didn't you say this was originally an auxiliary control center, that you moved to it when the main above-ground installations proved too vulnerable?" He asked.

"Yeah, we kept getting attacked by hostile aliens." Fraser recalled. "Down here was safer, though not much…"

"Well, maybe whoever's here now has gone back to using the upper levels. If everything's already in place and active, it will save us a lot of time…" Jessica suggested.

Carter nodded. "She's right; time's of the essence. Let's check out Main Mission…." They closed up the command center and headed up to the main levels.

"This is spooky…" Allison remarked. "Everything's on, but there's no people. It's deserted…"

No one commented.

As they reached the hallway outside Main Mission, Carter signaled them to stop. Before them was a large wall. "There should be an entrance here…" He said. Moving down the length of it, he stopped suddenly at the far end, as a door slid open. He adjusted the grip on his laser, and cautiously looked inside. A moment later, he motioned them forward. The procession of space-suited figures moved into the empty, cavernous room and spread out, taking in the vista before them.

Immediately noticeable were the changes. Where previously there had been the 'big screen' panel bracketed on either side by entranceways, the entire wall was now dominated by a huge screen, inset and slightly concave. It extended from the steps up to the main computer to where the ventilation shaft used to be, running along the ceiling. The remaining entrance had been shifted closer to the exterior wall, which still had the windows looking out onto the lunar surface. However, a set of storage lockers had been added beyond the windows, extending to the retracting wall to the commander's office. The computer wall was now entirely black, featureless and glossed, reflecting the light of the room. It was broken up at intervals by vertical columns with inset lighting panels. They were arched, extending outward as they rose to the overhead balcony of the second level, obviously serving as braces. Displays flashed on and off along the computer panels, apparently part of the panels themselves. There were no buttons, switches or keys… 

"Touch-sensitive flat panel displays." Mentor observed. "Same with the workstations…" Everyone turned to follow his gaze. The workstations, five in all, were arranged in the center of the room in a staggered 'V' formation; four smaller stations angled at forty-five degrees relative to the room, facing the center, and the fifth, larger station at the end, centered and facing the main viewscreen wall. Each station had the same glossy, featureless surface as the computer wall, the main console projecting out from a side bracing on the smaller stations, the larger one having the more traditional dual brace/legs on either side. The walls not taken up with computers or screens were done in the same warm, muted grays they'd seen throughout the rest of the base.

"Who could've done all this?" Fraser asked softly.

"Good question…" Called a voice, behind them. Everyone spun around towards the source, and froze in utter disbelief at what they saw.

"It can't be…." Carter whispered.

The doors to the commander's office, which had appeared to have been replaced with a smoked, opaque glass of some kind, had slid open to reveal three men, armed with lasers which were now aimed at the group. The men descended the shallow stairs into the central room, their expressions grim.

"We have a better one…who are you, and what are you doing on our base?" Asked Tony Verdeschi, as he, Paul Morrow, and John Koenig –all dressed in standard Alphan uniforms and looking not a day older than when the moon had left Earth orbit- stood, ready to shoot them down at the slightest move.

**Chapter Four**

****

"Answer the question!" Koenig demanded. "Who are you, and what are you doing on our base?" 

Jessica and the others stood, stunned, as they were interrogated by three ghosts from their past. To them, John Koenig, Paul Morrow, and Tony Verdeschi were all dead….and yet, here they were, standing before them….pointing hand lasers at them. She looked to Nick, then to Mentor, concerned about their reaction to the sight of their fathers. Both were as shocked as the rest, but Mentor was expert at hiding his feelings, and Nick seemed to be handling it well enough….

"Commander…" Alan spoke, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Don't you recognize us? It's Carter….Alan Carter." He looked from Koenig to Morrow. "Paul? C'mon Paul, we were mates…surely you gotta remember…." But Morrow's face betrayed nothing but suspicion. He looked to Tony. "Tony….you know Fraser, right? Bill Fraser…." He asked, lifting a hand to indicate Bill, standing off to his side. "Remember? You were at the wedding, when he and Annette got hitched…"

Verdeschi shook his head and raised his gun. "Sorry, old timer, but you'll have to do better than that. Carter may be long in the tooth, but he's certainly not as old as you are, and I don't know any Frasers….they have to be aliens, John." He said to Koenig.

"Maybe….get security and take a few of them to Medical, check them out and see who they really are….the rest will be detained in holding until we're sure about them." He ordered.

"Right…" Tony said, and motioned for the group to separate. He kept them covered while he used his commlock to summon security.

Fraser leaned in close to Carter. "It must be a trick….if it really were them, they'd recognize us, even at our age….what do you think? Aliens?"

"I'm not sure…" Alan replied. "We've been through time warps before, met other versions of ourselves…maybe this is one of those times. Maybe they got thrown forward, into their future…."

"Then why don't we remember it?" Fraser asked. "No, something's wrong….look at Tony's uniform. He's wearing Command Center red….but he wasn't promoted to Security Chief until well after Morrow died….and yet Morrow's here too. Your time warp theory doesn't explain that…."

"Look, speculation is pointless." Mentor interrupted. "Regardless of who these people are, we still have a mission to complete. We have only sixteen hours to either destroy or divert that comet to prevent a collision with Terra Alpha."

Carter nodded. "Cobber's right. But we can't do what we need to while staring down the barrel of a laser…"

Three security guards appeared, brandishing lasers. "All right, those six get taken to holding. Full guard at all times." Tony ordered, indicating the back half of the group. Jessica, Mentor, Nick, Alan, Fraser and Allison remained. "The rest get escorted to Medical for a full workup." He waved his laser at them. "Move it!" He barked. The younger Alphans looked to Jessica, who nodded in assent. They followed Verdeschi's instruction and accompanied the guards out. As Nick got to the doorway, he looked back at the sight of his father, standing with Koenig, stoically watching.

The colony was frantic with activity, as crates and makeshift containers were filled and loaded into Eagles and people packed what few belongings they had together in preparation for leaving. "Everything should be ready within twelve hours." David told his mother as Helena went from place to place, organizing the exodus. "Do you really think this is necessary? Jessica doesn't fail when she puts her mind to something…she'll deal with the comet…"

"This is just a precaution, David…" Helena assured him.

"I realize that….it's just…I've noticed that you haven't packed any of your own things yet. Nor have some of the others…" 

"That's right…" She replied, checking an inventory list.

"Mom….if you're not going, then neither am I." He said bluntly.

Helena turned on him. "Yes, you are….David, you're a grown man….you don't need me anymore. You have your whole life ahead of you…you should live it."

"So should you…" He protested.

"I have…I've lived longer than any of us thought we would….I've had fantastic adventures, roamed the universe, married a wonderful man and had two fine children. That's enough for anyone. I've had my time, David….now you have to have yours." She placed her hands on his shoulders and smiled.

"Mom….if we have to leave, it's not like we're leaving you behind to live out your days gardening and watching the sunrise….you're going to die. Our home will have died…." David pleaded, his eyes growing moist.

"David….if I do say so myself, I've taught you everything there is to know about being a doctor. You know as well as I that everyone dies….it's part of life. And I choose to die here, on my adopted home, than go back to the desolate existence I and the others had for so many years…" She said, equally sad.

"Yet you would condemn us to that 'desolate existence'? Deny us the same choice?" He refuted.

"If it comes to it, I'm sorry I have to….but at least it means that you will survive, at least a little while longer. Maybe long enough to find a new home, as we did. Then everything we went through won't have been in vain…" She shot back, resolutely. David's shoulders lowered slightly, and she knew she'd won, at least this small battle. "You certainly know your psychology, doctor…" He said, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Let's just hope it won't come to that…."

His arms came around her in a fierce hug, and Helena's eyes turned upward as they embraced. "Let's hope…" She whispered.

"Let's hope I can provide the answers you're looking for…" Helena Russell cautioned, as the conversation with Tony Verdeschi finished. He had asked her to run every test she could on the intruders, to try and determine who and what they were. Inside Medical, her assistant, Dr. Mathias, had gotten each of the newcomers out of their space suits as security watched on, and hooked them up to various monitors and analyzers. Jessica watched her intently as she returned to take charge.

"Doctor Russell…" She called. "It's very important that you believe us….we came here on a vital mission, to save hundreds of lives. We need your help…"

Helena checked the connectors on the monitors. "I'm sure that, if the results of these tests verify your story, the commander will be more than willing to listen, and do what he can. Lie back, please…"

"Will they take long? We're on a tight deadline…"

"How long they take depends on your cooperation…." Helena chided. She started the machine operating, and moved to another bed. Jessica sighed. "I wish David were here….he could tell me if Mom always had such a dry bedside manner…"

In an adjacent bed, Nick chuckled. Jessica shot him a warning glare; he sobered briefly, but the grin returned a moment later.

"Look, doc, we don't have time for this…" Alan protested, sitting up as Helena came up to him. The guard moved closer in warning. Alan backed off, but not much. "We told you already….we're Alphans. We're you, in the future…..we found a planet to settle on, and now a comet's about to destroy it. We have to stop it!"

"Now, look….if you don't calm down, I'll have to sedate you…" Helena said calmly. "This won't take long if you just cooperate…"

Alan sighed in exasperation, and fell back onto the bed. "Relax, dad…" Allison called. "Remember what Helena said about your blood pressure….well, our Helena…" She amended.

"Yeah…" He said in frustration, then turned back to Dr. Russell. "Remind me to have a long talk with you about this conversation when I get home and see you again…"

Mentor walked into the room, escorted by a guard, holding his left arm. "Something wrong?" Nick asked. Mentor shook his head and took a seat on a bed. "No….but I think I may need a blood transfusion after this. I'm running decidedly low after all the tests they ran….think they'd never seen a half-Psychon before…"

Helena turned and regarded him at that….he glanced at her, curious at her scrutiny, then laid back and held his forehead. Helena's expression became one of curious apprehension, but it quickly passed. Both Alan and Jessica noted it with interest, then shared a look….

"What do you think?" John Koenig asked, seated at his desk and looking up at his assembled staff.

Morrow shrugged. "After all this time? Anything's possible, I suppose."

"The timing's too convenient…" Tony objected. "Why now?"

"They said they want to stop the comet from destroying their home…" Helena volunteered. "They must have settled there."

"The tests confirm they are human, and at least most of them are of the correct age…the others have enough genetic similarity to support a familial connection, as they say…" Mathias added.

"Including Mentor….he **is** part-Psychon….that could complicate things…" Helena added.

"What about their ships?" Koenig asked.

"They're being checked out now…we should have their computers' memory banks downloaded in a few minutes." Tony reported. "The design, construction materials and technology conform to original parameters. It all seems to fit…"

"So we know they aren't aliens in disguise…..which means they aren't the threat we thought they were. Any progress on how they got past the defense perimeter?" Koenig asked Verdeschi.

"They were let in; the defenses were deactivated. We're still checking into who might have done it…" He replied. Koenig raised his eyebrows. 

"I think we all know who….but the point is, they're here. We know who they are, and why they've come….the only question left is…..what do we do about it?" He asked.

"Eliminate them?" Morrow suggested.

"Is that necessary?" Helena asked. "Have we gone that far?"

"You know what's at stake….but no, I don't think that's necessary just yet…." Koenig mused. "I think we should help them…"

"Help them? Are you sure?" Tony warned.

"For a while, at least….it would give us plenty of opportunity to study them in detail….and I think we all know what use that could be…" He replied.

The others thought for a time, then nodded in turn….

"Bring them to Main Mission. It's time for some explanations…." He ordered.

"I can't believe it…a chance to actually meet my father. To get to know him…" Nick mused, sitting on the edge of the bed with Jessica. "I never even dreamed I've have this opportunity…"

Jessica smiled sadly, and put an arm around him. "I know what this means to you…just be careful, please. We still aren't sure they are who they appear to be…"

"She's right, lad…" Alan offered, wheeling up to them. "We've been burned too often in the past to take anything at face value."

Nick looked at the pilot. "How can you say that? You were the first to suggest they might be the real thing. How can you change your tune now?"

"Hey…" Alan said defensively. "Yeah, I want them to be genuine. I hope like hell they are my friends, alive and well…but time has made me a pragmatist as well. You always wait for the other shoe to drop before you relax."

"I know I shouldn't get my hopes up…." Nick admitted. "But all of you knew your fathers…you spent time with them, you knew them, you had that connection…I never had that option. I know you tried to fill that role, Alan…." He said, acknowledging Carter. "You and the Commander…and I'll always think of you as fathers. But it's not the same as this…"

There was a quiet sobbing from the back of the room, and Nick turned to see Sandra leaning against a wall, crying. He went over to her and held her, her slight frame disappearing in his imposing frame. "It's okay, mom…I wasn't expecting this either…especially after what we talked about….it's all right…." He whispered, trying to comfort her.

The others turned away, giving them some privacy. "I hope, for their sake, I'm just being paranoid." Alan muttered. "Cause if this is some kind of trick…somebody's gonna pay for it…"

"We might all pay for it before this is over…" Jessica warned. She turned to Mentor. "How much time do we have?"

"Just over thirteen hours." He replied, taking but a moment to run the calculations in his head.

"Is there any way we can overpower them, take control of the base if we have to?" She asked.

"There were three hundred and eleven of us on the base when the moon broke away….those're pretty long odds…" Fraser remarked.

"Maybe not…." Alan breathed. "In the old days, this place was bustling with people. Even walking down a hallway, you passed at least two or three others…but how many have we seen since we got here?"

"John, Paul, Tony…..Helena, Bob….a few guards I didn't recognize…" Fraser counted. "That's it, far as I know…"

"Exactly….if we have gone back in time, or even if they came forward, the base should be fully staffed. Hell, I haven't even seen an orderly or nurse come through. What if there aren't any more?" Alan argued.

"It is strange…" Mentor commented. "But even so, they confiscated our weapons, and the guards are armed. Assuming we could overpower them before they stunned all of us, we still might lose a significant number…and we will need everyone if we're to have the best chance to stop the comet…"

"Ok…." Jessica interposed. "Let's play things low-key for now, play along with them…if they are who they seem to be, we can reason with them, get their help…if not, we find out who they are and what they're doing. We might still be able to convince them to help. If not…then we do what we have to…."

"Sounds like a plan…" Nick chimed in, coming up to the group. Sandra seemed calmer, more composed. Alan gave her a supportive smile and a gentle squeeze on the arm.

Before anything more could be said, the doors opened and Tony Verdeschi walked in with two guards. "Come with us…" He said firmly. The group looked to each other, then followed their escorts out. They walked the empty corridors in silence, each wondering what was to come next…none noticed, as they moved from section to section, the mysterious shadowy figure following them….always a few steps behind, stealthily stalking….

Koenig and Morrow were waiting for them, standing at the center console as the group was led in and herded to the center of the room, before the main screen.

"I've seen the reports from my staff." He started. "At least on the surface, you appear to be who you say…and we know the reasons you've stated for coming here. But there are still a great many questions to be answered…on both sides, I'm sure." The Alphans nodded in agreement. "We've discussed the situation, and reached a decision. As you seem to pose no threat to us, there is no cause to be antagonistic. If trust is to be forged between us, someone must take the first step…and at this point, I see no harm in being the first to take that step." He turned to Morrow. "Deactivate gene-lock." He said. Morrow paused, as if unsure, but turned to the console and tapped in a series of commands.

The Terra Alphans looked at each other in confusion, then started as the room was bathed in a soft, purple glow. It lasted but moments, but as it faded, Koenig, Morrow, Tony and the other moonbase personnel seemed to relax, as if relieved of a great weight, or pain. As one, they straightened to their full height, and then became indistinct….undefined….the Terra Alphans tensed, confused, watching in astonishment as the figures that had been their friends resolved back into clear focus, this time not as familiar faces, but alien…until, finally, the transformation was complete and they stood surrounded by beings in flowing robes and bearing features strange and yet known. Alan was the first to break the silence.

"Psychons….they're Psychons…." He breathed.

"Of course, you've had some experience with our race…" The one who had been John Koenig said, nodding in Mentor's direction. Mentor, for his part, just looked on in astonishment. His veneer of detachment was gone. Nick's expression had also changed…from hope, to disappointment, to steely angered resolve. Jessica caught his intense start at the aliens, and felt for him. She knew he was hurt and hoped he wouldn't do anything rash, but this wasn't the time to console him, as much as she wanted to. She turned back to the newly revealed Psychons.

"You could say that…" She said, her tone flat. "Who are you, really?"

"You are angry at our deception….I understand that, and you are fully justified. You have our apologies, and I hope you will accept we had our reasons. I am Valin, leader of our colony. This is Krel…" He introduced, motioning to 'Tony'. "…Jesik…" To 'Morrow'. "….Teela…." 'Helena' nodded. "…and Balon." He finished, to the false Mathias. "Excuse our caution, but we never expected the original inhabitants of this base to return…"

"Yeah, and we never expected it to be inhabited by Psychons after we left…." Alan countered.

"That….is a long story…"

"Which we haven't time for at the moment." Jessica interjected. "We need to utilize this base to coordinate our efforts to destroy the comet traveling along with you before it collides with our home. Obviously, you've made yourselves at home here, and done some modifications. We need to move quickly, and it would go much easier with your help. You want us to trust each other, you can start there…" 

"Of course…" Valin agreed. "You will be familiar with most of the basic systems, but we can assist with any adaptations you may have problems with."

"Thank you…" Jessica acknowledged, and turned to her people. "All right, you know your duties. Sandra, Mentor; start getting familiar with the sensor systems…we need to confirm the readings we took on the flyby of the comet….Alan, take your team and get working on the nuclear ordinance. We need to know what we have to work with…"

"Right. Ehrlich, Bartlett…" He called and spun about, heading for the exit. A small part of the group followed.

"Krel, go with them….provide what they need…" Valin instructed. Krel frowned, looking as if he wished to protest, but thought better of it and turned on his heel to accompany the departing Alphans. 

"Allison, Nick, Bill; the Eagles will have to be rigged to deliver and place the charges…" She suggested. All three nodded, and headed out to start work, taking the remainder of their support personnel with them. She then turned to Valin.

"The preparations should take some time…perhaps we should use it to get better acquainted, maybe hear each others' stories. It appears we'll be working together for a while…" She offered. Valin smiled, and gestured to the commander's office. As she followed him, she thought that his smile was anything but a congenial one; it was the smile of a predator to its prey.

**Chapter Five**

"Either of you think that was too easy?" Allison asked as she, Nick and Fraser headed for the hangars where their Eagles were stored. Bill and Nick looked at each other. "Very" They said simultaneously. 

"We've had experience with Psychons…." Bill said, remembering his previous encounters with Maya's race. Her own father, Mentor, for whom the younger Verdeschi was named, had captured him and his co-pilot Torrens while on a survey mission of the believed uninhabited Psychon. Torrens didn't survive Mentor's megalomania, and Fraser had only by the skin of his teeth. "Maya's the only one I've ever known that could be trusted."

"I remember the stories…despite what the man said, trust isn't in the equation far as I'm concerned. Question is, can we succeed in our mission if we have to go against them?" She asked.

Neither of the men had an answer.

"Before I tell you our story, may I ask a question?" Valin inquired, offering Jessica a seat in the spacious office. "Sure.." She replied, sitting down. 

"Whom of your friend's parents was the Psychon?" He asked.

"His mother, Maya. He was named for his grandfather."

"Ah…." Valin understood. "I thought as much. The senior Mentor was well regarded on Psychon as a scientist…I myself was a student of his, before the exodus."

"You knew Maya's father?"

"Oh yes…I was very young at the time, of course. Considered something of a child prodigy, actually. Mentor had some intriguing ideas about the cause of our planet's deterioration…rather unpopular ones, in fact." He explained. "He believed the reason Psychons were the only beings capable of molecular transformation was because of a mineral that permeated every facet of the planet's ecosystem….the food, the water, the very air. It caused the Psychon genome to evolve the same instability that allows for transformation, the reorganization of our bodies down to the molecular level. The mineral was prolific and very useful in our technological development, so it was heavily mined. His theory was that the mineral was integral to the planet's stability, and thus by mining it so heavily, we were ourselves aiding the planet's destruction."

Jessica scoffed. "An unstable element necessary for a planet's stability?" She asked incredulously.

"Fantastic, is it not?" Valin agreed. "As it was to our scientists. And, of course, we thought far too highly of ourselves to believe we could be responsible for the ecological disasters that were growing more and more frequent, so we dismissed his ideas. Eventually, however, as the planet steadfastly resisted all attempts to reverse the decay, the effects became impossible to ignore. Responsibility was no longer an issue….whatever the cause, the result was inevitable. There was no hope for our world. So a great many of us left."

"Mentor steadfastly believed he could find a solution…and that it lay in the very science that ostensibly caused the problem. Molecular transformation." He went over to a cart that contained a selection of drinks. "Tea?" He offered. Jessica shook her head. "He thought that if he could create a computer system that utilized biological neural components, it would be able to control the transformation process to such a degree that the entire planet could be returned to its previously idyllic state. I was one of the scientists that helped him develop the idea, before we realized that it would never work. While the theory was sound enough, the power requirements were prohibitive. Even with our level of technology, there was no way to generate the power it would need to transform the whole world. He refused to believe us, and so we left."

He returned to a chair opposite Jessica. "We wandered for many years, searching for a new home. Everywhere we went, we were greeted by by violence, or fear. Our abilities and technology intimidated them, or seduced them to the point that they wished to force it from us….we became pariahs, shunned and even hunted throughout the universe. Finally, a handful that remained came to the Kroton Federation. They were peaceful, and welcomed us. We thought our trials finished…but we hadn't reckoned on how our experiences had changed us." He took a drink and continued. "A number of our group believed that the generosity we'd been shown was merely a ruse, that they were merely lulling us to complicity while plotting to steal our secrets. Their leader…"

"Dorzak." Jessica said.

Valin looked surprised. "You know of Dorzak?" He asked.

"Our parents encountered him many years ago. He was a prisoner on a Kroton transport." She explained.

"I see….so he lived. I am not surprised…" Valin mused. "Then you probably know the rest of this part of the story. How Dorzak incited revolution, tried to take over…he destroyed any hope we had to be accepted, and those who did not believe as he did escaped before the Krotons hunted us all down."

Jessica looked at him, her face impassive. "He told our parents he was the only survivor. That he and Maya were the last existing Psychons." She said.

"I'm sure he believed that." Valin acknowledged. "He probably thought those of us who abandoned him would not survive, that the universe would destroy us. He was nearly right." He looked pensive. "We again wandered, running from system to system, always hunted, cast out, reviled everywhere we went. Word of our existence even reached the remains of the Dorcon Empire. Their ruling family had disappeared mysteriously years before, and a brutal power struggle had ensued. When news of our survival reached them, they sent waves of bounty hunters after us, believing that the immortality we could provide would give them an edge in seizing power. The constant fight to survive was draining our resources, our very will to continue…we were in fact running from one such hunter when our ship was seized by an undetected gravitational anomaly. It severely damaged us, and destroyed our pursuer. We thought we were dead, our ship crippled beyond repair. We drifted into this system, and were caught in this moon's gravitational pull. The crash wrecked what little remained that worked, and many of us died. We who survived had seen this base as we fell towards the moon, and knew it was our only chance for survival. Our transformation abilities allowed us to reach it in time, and kept us alive long enough to restore minimal function to the facilities that had been left behind. That was fifteen of your years ago." He finished.

"And you've lived here ever since?" Jessica asked. 

Valin nodded. "It was as good as anywhere else we'd been; even better, as it was deserted. As time went on, we adapted more and more of the existing systems to our needs, made it more livable for us…it has become a home. Would you care to see what we've done with it?"

Sandra and Mentor were going over the consoles, trying to figure out the systems. 

"Some of this I understand…" Sandra said in exasperation. "Much of the basic hardware and programming is from the original moonbase systems, but it has been so heavily modified and integrated with the alien technology that everything I remember is practically useless."

"Perhaps I can be of assistance.." Jesik offered, coming over from the main computer wall. "The interface is task-specific and intuitive. It will actually reprogram itself as it sees what you're trying to do, laying out the controls that best suit your needs. It will even come to know your own specific habits and style, and customize the interface for maximum efficiency."

He leaned over her and tapped a few controls. The panel displays shifted, bringing up new system menus, and soon the sensor status displays appeared. Jesik went over each step as he did it, walking her through the process. He looked over to Mentor. "Shall I show you as well?" He asked.

"No…" Mentor replied. "I am more familiar with this technology, at least the theory behind it. My mother taught me all she knew of Psychon science and technology, as she knew it. The principles are identical, though there have been some improvements…"

Jesik smiled. "Yes, we're constantly working on advancing our knowledge and technology…this place has been ideal for our needs, even being less advanced than we are used to." Sandra stole a glance at him, and bit back a remark. "Let me know if there are any other difficulties…" He offered, and returned to his work at the computer.

Sandra looked over to Mentor. "I have the sensors aligned now….reading the comet clearly." Mentor nodded, concurring. "It looks like the moon's trajectory has reached apogee relative to the comet; it's arcing away more sharply now. Distance will continue to increase geometrically…if we have to make multiple trips to place all the charges, travel time for each successive trip will increase by twenty percent."

"Mass and spectrographic readings coming in now…" Sahn confirmed. "I must admit, I like what they've done to the scanner arrays. We could never have gotten such powerful or detailed scans from our old equipment…" She studied the readouts and frowned. "Your original scans on the Eagle must have been off, or the equipment malfunctioned, Mentor. The comet's mass is reading at only four hundred thirty metric tons, and currently stable. No indications of fluctuation or increase." She reported.

"I don't understand…the readings were verified on the other Eagles, and it doesn't explain the gravitational pull we encountered." Mentor groaned, moving over to look at her console display. " See if you can get a breakdown of the core elements…." He suggested. Sandra adjusted the controls.

Jesik watched them intently from his position, his gaze occasionally drifting to the computer displays as he tapped in commands. On the screen before him was a readout mirroring Sandra's, detailing the information they were accessing…information that was subtly being changed before it reached their consoles…

Carter's group rode with Krel in the travel tube to the launch pads where they would take an Eagle out to the old nuclear waste dumps. Ehrlich and Bartlett were chatting about the old days when they and Carter made up the Nuclear Monitoring Team, overseeing the disposition of the waste from the base's nuclear reactors. They had wanted to make certain the original accident that blew the moon from Earth's orbit was never repeated. Krel had joined in the discussion, explaining how that could not happen now. His people had constructed newer, more efficient fusion reactors to replace the cruder fission ones years ago, and disposed of the nuclear material at the dumps with the rest. With no more waste being produced, the dumps had been closed down and no longer used.

"Then the nuclear fuel stores should still be there." Carter deduced. "Only question is, is there enough there to do what we need?"

"We can show you ways to increase the yield of your explosive devices…" Krel offered. "With some modifications, you can achieve a concussive force nearly ten times greater with only half the normal amount of reactive elements."

The Alphans looked at each other, impressed. "What about radiation? Blast radius? If these things are going to pack a bigger punch, we'll have to revise our timings for safety of both the base and our home…" Alan asked, concerned.

"The base has more than adequate protections against radiation, but I will provide exposure and distance effect data once we arrive and we know how much you will need to do what you intend." Krel assured.

"That's very decent of you, Krel." Bartlett offered. "We appreciate your people understanding our situation and offering to help like this."

Krel nodded. "It is nothing. If the situations were reversed, I am sure you would be as obliging." 

The tube came to a stop and they rose to board the Eagle.

"Smooth ride….I like what you've done with the place…" Ehrlich commented as they disembarked. Alan motioned for Krel to precede him, and kept a wary eye on the man as he took up the rear, wheeling into the boarding tube.

Valin and Jessica were walking the corridors when Jesik's face appeared on a nearby communications post. "Valin, the Alphans headed for the waste disposal area have just taken off." He reported. "Thank you." Valin replied, and Jesik signed off.

"I'm curious…" Jessica asked, having watched the exchange. "If your science is so far ahead of humans'…why retain so much of their technology? I'd think it would be harder to get the two to work together than to just replace everything with your own technology, even rebuilding from scratch…"

"It was a challenge, but that was part of the reason…" He admitted. "Once we got to a point where survival became less of a concern, we began to study the equipment left behind here. There wasn't much, but we found it to be quite interesting to study, from not only a technological viewpoint, but also socially and culturally. Much can be learned of a people from what they leave behind. We found an auxiliary computer core that was left operative, containing backup files and logs….including a message your parents apparently hoped to send back to Earth, using Psychon-based enhancements."

Jessica nodded, remembering Maya mentioning the device she'd designed to send Sandra's farewell message through time and space back to Earth, just before the final evacuation. She wondered if it ever made it back there.

"From those records, we learned your people's language, who they were, how they came to be here…it was most engaging. In time, we became so submerged in the study of your people that we decided to keep a lot of the fundamental design aspects of the base intact, for familiarity's sake, and simply add on to or modify as needed for our own ease and comfort." He continued.

"I'm glad we were so interesting to you." Jessica muttered. "So why did you choose to emulate the original inhabitants when we arrived? You must have recognized the design of our Eagles, having studied us so thoroughly…"

Valin smiled. "Actually, we did not monitor your approach at all; we were preoccupied with an experiment. It wasn't until you had already landed and entered the base that the computer informed us we had visitors. The part of the computer system that is still original must have recognized you and deactivated the automatic defensive systems to allow you in. Lucky for you…"

"Yes….very…" She agreed, still skeptical.

"So, not knowing who you were or your intentions, we assumed forms that would not immediately reveal our true nature…and that could be easily explained away if need be." 

"Well, it certainly gave us pause…" She admitted.

"I regret any consternation our emulations caused. You are perhaps the only people in the universe that our chosen disguises were not well suited to. As I said, we did not expect you to return…"

"If the comet hadn't posed a danger to us, we probably wouldn't have…" Jessica assured.

"Ah, yes….the comet. We encountered it a few of your weeks ago. Had it not been for the increased speed of this moon's slingshot orbit around your sun, it likely would've collided with us. Unfortunately, it passed just close enough for our gravitational pull to alter its orbit. Otherwise, it might have passed your home without incident."

Jessica shrugged. "The point is moot, now. We're here to deal with it, and once that's done, we'll leave you to your new life."

"I admit, it has been very exciting to meet you all….to interact firsthand with those who first lived here, whose people built the structures we now call our home. Of course we will assist you however we can." Valin reiterated. "Much of the upper levels have only been given cosmetic changes….the real alterations have been to the underground installations. Come…"

"Wow."

Nick could only echo Allison's sentiments as they looked out into the expanse of the cavernous hangar. Bill just smiled. "You should've seen it when it was full of Eagles, laser tanks, booster pods, and cargo modules. In its own way, the sight rivaled anything we have back on Terra Alpha." He said, proudly.

"Well, it isn't exactly empty…" Nick pointed out, looking to the far corner. The others looked, and saw a ship sitting in a construction dock that was decidedly unlike any Eagle. It was long and thin, a dark rust color, with a wide rear section for engines that narrowed and tapered as it went forward to a slightly bulbous nose at the front.

"I don't recognize that design." Bill noted. "Must be some kind of Psychon ship."

"Makes sense. Probably either repairing or rebuilding the ship that brought them here." Allison commented.

"Yeah….anyway, we better get on with those conversions. Let's see what all tools they've got that we can borrow for a while…" Bill suggested with a smile. A bit of searching turned up everything they needed, and they headed for the area where their Eagles were berthed to begin preparing them for their nuclear cargo.

Allison paused. "Did you hear that?" She asked.

Bill and Nick turned to her, then listened. "Hear what?" Fraser asked. 

"I thought I heard someone else moving around in here…" She said quietly. "This place reflects all kinds of sounds. You probably heard us, and thought it was someone else cause it came from an odd direction…" Bill offered. "I suppose…" Allison said, reluctantly. She couldn't help but get the feeling that something else was out there…or someone. When the sound did not reoccur, she shrugged it off and joined the others. A moment after she turned to leave, an errant shadow from a bank of equipment off to one side began to move….

Sandra looked up at Mentor, hovering over her like a hawk, ready to strike. "Computer confirms the results. The core is composed of nickel and iron. High concentrations, yes, but not unusual in asteroid-like bodies." She said, almost apologetically. Mentor rose in frustration. "I was sure of those readings….I went over the computer three times after we passed. I double-checked the data feeds of the others….everything said the comet's mass was a thousand times what this is saying!"

"Mentor, those scanners were reprogrammed years ago to detect ore deposits in mountain ranges for mining purposes…they haven't been used for analyzing celestial object data in decades. It was probably some programming error that was missed in the recalibration…" She hypothesized.

"I don't make those kinds of mistakes…not when it comes to computers." Mentor corrected. "Run the scans again…we must've missed something."

"Mentor, I've done the scan four times. Each time it is the same result. You know how to run this equipment….you don't believe me, do it yourself!" She shouted, standing and walking off. Mentor watched her go, sighed, then sat down and ran another scan.

"Far be it from me to get involved, but in our culture we do not question the judgment of our elders…" Jesik spoke up.

"We aren't of your culture…" Mentor returned, off-handedly.

"You are….at least in part…." Came the Psychon's response. "Did your mother not teach you that?"

Mentor looked up at that, and turned to face him. "I will thank you to leave my family out of this…" He said coldly. Jesik nodded in concession. Mentor returned to the console. "I can double-check the scanners by doing a sweep of Terra Alpha….use those as a baseline. We should be close enough…" He mused.

"Realigning scanners for calibration sweep…" Jesik confirmed.

"Put up sensor returns on the main screen." Mentor requested. "Include raw data feed as well as computer extrapolation."

Jesik complied, and the huge central viewer lit up, the image resolving on the screen and the open area just before it, the green sphere of Terra Alpha hanging as a three dimensional representation.

"Holo-matrix projection technology. Impressive…" Mentor hummed appreciatively. Underneath the rotating sphere ran a line of numbers and letter designations, the raw code from which the graphic was generated. "Atmospheric composition, axial tilt, rotational spin, life form indicators….everything checks out…." He said to himself, studying the stream as it went by. He moved back over to his station. "Now, if just track the scan over to the comet…." He said, manipulating controls. The comet swung into view, and the picture fluctuated slightly before firming up into the bright, fuzzy image of the hurtling ball of vapor, ice and rock. "What was that?" He asked.

"Probably a momentary fluctuation as the scanners compensated for the closer magnetic field of the comet…" Jesik postulated. Mentor nodded, thinking it likely….his concentration was focused on the readouts. Once again, the data told him the same thing: a simple nickel/iron core, massing only a few hundred tons. His shoulders slumped and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Maybe I've been looking at numbers and readouts too long…I need a break." He moaned.

"I have just the place…" Jesik suggested.

Jessica's eyes were wide with astonishment; her mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. All she could do was stare….Valin, standing behind her, just smiled. "Impressive, is it not?"

Before them lay an expansive cavern, easily a mile in diameter, and nearly half that high. The ground was a field of green grass, broken in places by flowerbeds, trees and shrubbery. The sky was a deep blue, and there was even a yellow sun overhead. Jessica closed her eyes, and could feel a breeze wash over her face. She turned to her escort. "How did you do this? Some sort of illusion?" She asked, barely getting above a whisper.

"In part, you might say so…" He explained. "Your people left a maze of tunnels from their mining efforts over the years….some of these we filled in, as they were structurally unstable. Deeper ones, like this, were expanded. The soil was processed and fertilized, and seeds found in the hydroponics section planted…they must've been overlooked in the evacuation. The sky is a holographic projection on the cavern ceiling, that turns into a starfield at night. We approximate the rotational cycle period the base was designed for, twenty-four hour days. The sun…" He pointed, shielding his eyes. "… is actually a micro-fusion generator, set to recreate the spectral range of the Earth's sun…compensating, of course, for the lack of a protective ozone layer. Oddly enough, Earth and the Psychon of our time were apparently quite similar." He gestured in a wide arc across the sky. "A dedicated artificial gravity generator controls the 'sun's' movement across the sky, and the fusion reaction intensity is preprogrammed to increase and decrease in intensity as it rises and sets, simulating sunrise and sunset. The entire cavern is on an independent power supply, in case of any disruption to our own reactors."

"But why go to so much trouble?" Jessica asked. "The logistics involved must have been staggering…is this part of your air generation system or food supply?" 

"Partly….this and other caverns like it supplement our atmosphere and food stocks, but are not the primary sources. Mostly, we did it just to have a reminder of our home, as it was….it is a place for relaxation, contemplation….to put the worries of a hostile universe aside and just be….." He said, reverently.

Jessica took in the sight and marveled at the effect. "Well, apart from the color of the sky, I'd say it was a perfect job….really amazing…" She turned, and gestured back to the entrance. Just beyond, the vista returned to the gray, narrow tunnels of moon rock, broken only by the occasional atmospheric pressurization indicator. "You said there were other caverns like that one…how many?"

"Four, in total….some are not as big, but all are designed to simulate a desirable planetary environment. There's one where you can even go rock climbing…." Valin explained, smiling. Obviously, he frequented that particular habitat.

"Have you ever considered settling on a habitable world? If you were to find one that would accept you, that is…" She asked.

"We've considered it often, but every time something happens to spoil it. For now, those of us who are left are content to remain here, in relative safety." Valin replied, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Our world is sizable, and we have yet to encounter any indigenous sentient life…I'm sure there are plenty of areas you could colonize. It would be a small token of appreciation for helping us save it…" Jessica offered. "You have no idea where this moon will go after it leaves the system. You could find yourself moving back into unfriendly territory…"

"True….we had considered that…" Valin admitted. "It is a generous offer you make, young lady. I shall have to consider it…." His line of thought was broken as two figures approached. "Jesik." He called.

"Mentor!" Jessica called as well. The pair of men joined them. "Jesik was going to show me somewhere where I could take a break for a bit…apparently there is a limit to how long even I can stare at a computer screen…" Mentor said.

Jessica laughed. "You're going to ruin my image of you….but he's right. If you're headed for the caverns, it's ideal for relaxing. It's amazing what they've done, Mentor…but I don't want to ruin the surprise. Go on and see; you can tell me about it later. How are we doing on time?" She asked, remembering their mission.

"Ten hours….I'm waiting on an estimate from Carter on the availability of the nuclear ordinance. I've run several scans of the comet, and apparently the initial scans were wrong. The mass readings all come up the same; only a few hundred tons. I can't explain the earlier readings, nor the gravity fluctuations as we approached…." He reported, obviously unsettled by the information. Jessica clapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it; we'll check it out. Though it sounds like it worked in our favor…will make blowing it up a lot easier. Go take a break….I'll call you when we're ready to proceed."

Mentor nodded. "Oh, if you see Sandra, tell her I….tell her it wasn't personal. I just wanted to be certain…"

Jessica looked confused for a moment. "Okay….sure. I'll tell her…go on…" She said, then moved past to head back. Mentor watched a moment, then followed Jesik to the caverns….

"Boy, it sure is weird to be in here again…." Bartlett admitted as he, Carter, Ehrlich and Krel entered the nuclear disposal area monitoring station. The other two Alphans concurred; the last time they'd been here, they were about to blow up the waste dumps….unknowingly, of course, their perceptions having been manipulated by aliens who needed the radiation from the exploding dumps to survive. Only the actions of then-Commander Koenig had prevented them from unwittingly killing themselves and everyone on the moonbase.

"Yeah…okay, Ehrlich, you check the containment seals and radiation levels, then inventory the supply of shielded casings we have available for the charges…..Bartlett, you and I will go over the remaining fuel stores and start on trigger assemblies. Krel, you can use that terminal over there to access the construction plans for the charges and start working on modifications to increase the yield." Alan directed. Each man nodded and went to work.

"Oh, Ehrlich…" Alan called. The man came over and leaned down at the pilot's urging. "Eh….keep an eye on him, huh?" Carter whispered, indicating Krel. Ehrlich nodded in understanding.

Bill Fraser sat in the cockpit of Eagle Four, checking over the controls. He depressed a lever set next to the flight seat. "How's this?" He called.

Back in the passenger section, Nick was standing beside a large open hatch in the floor, working on a winch assembly set into the ceiling. A thick cable ran down through the hatch to a claw-like carriage, to which Allison was making adjustments. The arms of the carriage opened slightly, and retaining clamps at the ends popped open. "That's better, though I'd like another foot of clearance to be safe!" Allison called. She shifted slightly, having to move around on her knees to get under the module to work on the carriage. The adjustments could have been made inside when the winch was fully retracted, but their experience with the unit taught that, at extension, the carriage tended to lock up…jamming the release lever and preventing detachment of whatever they were hauling. In this case, it meant nuclear charges…..not something you wanted to hang on to. In fact, such a failure of the carriage nearly cost Allison's father his life, when he'd been placing a nuclear charge…she was determined not to let history repeat itself.

"Almost got it….hand me the torque spanner, please, Nick?" She asked. Morrow reached over for the implement and held it through the hatch for her. She reached for it….

…only to have it snatched away from Nick's grasp by another hand! Nick startled and Allison yelped, falling back as both noticed a young Psychon male, perhaps no more than eighteen, crouching down under the module close to where Allison was working. None had heard or seen him approach.

"You have to stop them…" The young man said, softly, nervously; the spanner shook in his hands. "They'll kill all of you if you don't stop them…."

**Chapter Six**

"Wait!" Allison called, as the youth suddenly dropped the spanner and bolted from the area, sprinting across the bay and disappearing. Allison looked up through the hatch at Nick and Fraser, who had ran back at the sound of her shout. "What was that about?" Bill asked.

"I don't know…but I get the feeling we'll find out all too soon…" She replied ominously.

"There isn't much left, is there?"

Alan examined the readout with Bartlett. "No, but there wouldn't be, would there? Not after we blew most of the dumps to avoid that collision with Tora, years ago…let's just hope there's enough left for what we need…" He replied. He moved over to where Krel was working. "How's it going over here?" 

"Just finished. Your understanding of fission reactions is elementary, but enough to build on. This configuration will produce a reaction fifty times greater than the original." The Psychon answered. He called up a diagram on the monitor.

Alan, Ehrlich and Bartlett all came over to study it. "The shielding is twice standard….that's gonna add a lot more weight…" Ehrlich remarked.

"True, but it is necessary for the more concentrated reaction. And, as you won't need as many to achieve what you want, the weight concerns should balance out…" 

Alan nodded, impressed. "That's well thought out. Good job, lad. We may pull this off yet…." He smiled. "Bartlett, go over these equations and see how many we can construct with the stores we have. Ehrlich, get started on getting together the components. Once we know what tonnage we can throw at this thing, cobber can tell us how many we need and where to put 'em…"

Jessica found Sandra in a hallway close to Main Mission. "Is everything all right?" She asked the elder woman. Sandra nodded. "Yes…I just needed a break, that's all." Jessica smiled. "I saw Mentor a little while ago. He said to tell you….it wasn't personal. Did you two get into a fight?" She asked.

Sahn gave a quiet laugh. "It wasn't a fight…he just has a hard time admitting when he's wrong. He can be as stubborn as his father sometimes."

"Yes, he can…but you have to admit, he isn't often wrong. Probably why he has such a hard time accepting it. Are you sure he was wrong?"

Sahn looked up at her. "It may have been twenty-five years, and the systems may have been modified by aliens, but I can still interpret a data stream. The readings were consistent with the comet's size and composition. The readings taken from the Eagles must have been a programming error, or corrupted by interference…"

"Okay….I believe you." Jessica reassured her. "Once this is over, we'll make Mentor eat an extra-large helping of raven…."

Sahn chuckled. "Crow, actually…but it is a nice thought." She stood up straighter. "I should get back to it…is there any word yet from Alan on the amount of charges we'll have to work with?"

"Not yet, but I expect something soon. He knows time is of the essence. I was about to check on the conversions to the Eagles…why don't we call from Main Mission? Put all that fancy equipment to work…"

Sahn laughed, and the two women walked back to the expansive command center. It took only a few moments to find the vidcomm controls and soon, a larger than life image of Nick appeared on the main screen. Jessica was taken aback for a moment by the holographic projection, thinking he was actually coming out of the screen, then composed herself. "Nick, how's it going down there?" She called.

"So far, so good." He replied. "With the exception of Alan's Eagle, we should have everything ready to go in a couple hours. Any idea when they're due back?"

"Not yet…I'll keep you informed. In the meantime, how about you ladies run some lunch down here to us? We've got some hungry workers here…" He suggested.

Jessica frowned. A comment like that was uncharacteristic of Nick. "…Sure. No problem. Can't have our people falling behind from lack of energy, now can we? Be right there…" She said finally, and closed the channel. She and Shan exchanged looks. "Something's wrong….I'm going down there. Mentor's taking a break with Jesik….he should be back soon. Take the time to run a full series on the comet, see if the data still correlates with the earlier readings. Call me if anything changes or happens…" Jessica asked. Sahn nodded, and the younger woman was out the door.

Minutes later, she arrived at the Eagle where Nick, Allison and Bill were sitting in the passenger section, talking. Nick looked over as Jessica stepped in. "So where are those sandwiches I asked for?" He asked, grinning.

"Knock it off, Morrow…" She replied, closing the hatch behind her. "What's going on? You don't make remarks like that…hell, you balk at my bringing you breakfast in bed. What's the problem?"

Nick laughed, and looked at the others. "Told you she'd pick up on it. We didn't want to mention it on the comms, but we had a visitor earlier…another Psychon, one we hadn't seen before."

"He warned us…." Allison continued. "Said they'd kill all of us if we didn't stop them…"

" 'Them' being who? The other Psychons?" Jessica postulated.

"Who else?" Fraser responded.

"Did he say anything else?"

"No….after that, he ran off, like he was scared of being caught or something…" Allison said. "I don't know how; there wasn't anyone else here but the three of us…"

"That you know of…" Jessica added. "We know these Psychons have the same transformation abilities Maya did…maybe one of them was here, and you weren't aware of it…"

"We didn't hear him come up…" Nick mused. "It's possible…"

"And I wouldn't put it past them to be keeping tabs on us…." Fraser agreed.

"So the question becomes…what does he know that the others don't want him telling us about?" Jessica pondered.

"Quite impressive what you've done here…" Mentor remarked, looking around the sprawling cavern. "Almost feels like you're actually outside, in open air…"

"We worked quite hard to achieve just that effect…" Jesik admitted.

"How much of it was transformed?"

"Excuse me?" Jesik asked, confused.

"My mother was a master at molecular transformation; she told me all about her father's work. How he developed the biological computer, Psyche, to utilize the technique in an attempt to save his world. Something like this cavern…." He gestured around him. "…would take years to complete, given the construction capabilities available here on the base, even enhanced with Psychon technology. Unless…it was Psychon molecular transformation technology."

"I started suspecting it when I saw how thoroughly you had modified the moonbase. Our computers had detailed specifications of the original. We studied them in preparation for this moon's return. What you did required a massive amount of raw material. Lunar rock could explain a lot of it, but it has to be processed. While the base has the capability to do it, it would require a full staff and fully operational equipment. The base was all but gutted when you arrived…and I suspect you did not bring enough equipment to fully outfit a base of this size with you. So, the only logical explanation is molecular transformation." He explained.

Jesik smiled. "We have been on this base for fifteen of your years. Certainly enough time to complete even a task such as this…" He suggested.

"True….if it were your sole endeavor. But refurbishing an entire base as well? Upgrading her power reactors, installing additional defensive systems, replacing computer and control components and integrating them to work with existing technology…that's a great deal of work for such a small group…" Mentor countered.

"What makes you think we are small in number?" Jesik asked.

"The hallways are empty…we have never seen more than four of you at any given time….there is no reason for your people to hide from us. Your leader has offered your assistance. If there were others, they would have come forward by now…."

"Perhaps they have more pressing duties…" 

Mentor smiled, as if to a private joke. "I considered that. But what could be so important, that they would ignore the presence of alien beings in their home? The only thing I can think of would be something urgent….something that could not wait, that required precise timing and constant monitoring…."

"This is all very interesting, but is there a point to it?" Jesik interrupted. "Yes, this cavern and much of what you have seen was done in part with transformation technology. What of it?"

"Where is your computer?" Mentor asked.

"The main computers are up in the central control center…'Main Mission', I believe your friends called it…"

"No, not those computers…I mean the biological computer. The one that controls the process. You see, molecular transformation is a skill, an art. It is as much intuitive as scientific. In order to be able to affect matter beyond one's own form, you have to channel and control vast amounts of energy…not to mention the computational skill needed to reorganize at the molecular level on a scale such as this. For that, you'd need a computer. A very special computer, that can intuit, that can 'feel' and understand the complexities of complex organic forms, such as flora. Where is it?"

Jesik chuckled. "Your mind is certainly Psychon, I will grant you that. Very well reasoned and thought out. But there is still no point. Even if everything you say is true, what difference would it make? What would it matter if there was a 'biological computer' here somewhere?" He asked.

Mentor's own smile faded. "It would explain the fluctuating mass readings my scans recorded when we passed the comet. How a body so small could mass nearly a third of this moon…the only explanation I can think of is if someone were molecularly transforming the comet's core into denser, more compact elements."

"That's ridiculous. You saw the scans yourself. They were consistent with a rogue body of the comet's size and composition." Jesik countered.

"Yes, consistent. Too consistent. I saw the scans. I saw precisely what you wanted me to see…what you wanted Sandra to see. What was it, a simulation fed to our monitors in place of the actual sensor returns? I will give you credit, it was very convincing. Even down to the slight variations in distance from relative motion consistent with the time intervals between scans…however, there was just one flaw: the mass readings were identical every time. Not even a microscopic variation due to outgassing and vaporization of surface layers. Nor was there the characteristic wobble comets have due to venting gases. Minor, I grant you…..almost undetectable unless you know what you're looking for. But obvious to a keen, detail-oriented eye." Mentor crossed his arms in satisfaction.

"I am impressed." Jesik admitted. "Teela said you might complicate things…how ironic. Had you not been part-Psychon, you would not have had the intellect and background knowledge to see through our deception…but it hardly matters now. " Almost casually, Jesik produced a laser from the folds of his robes and shot Mentor down where he stood. "Were you monitoring?" He asked.

"Yes…" Valin replied, entering the cavern. "I told their leader I wished to come down and have a brief chat with this one, learn more of his mother and our world's final days." He stared at Mentor's unconscious form. "Under different circumstances, it would have been the truth."

"Now what do we do with him?" Jesik asked.

"Keep him confined until the deadline. Then it won't matter. Have his neural pathways scanned and analyzed; Balon can impersonate him to avert suspicion in the others, but he will need personal information to be convincing. Psychlos can read the relevant memory paths and relay the data as needed."

Jesik smiled. "He was asking about our computer. It's only fitting he should get a firsthand introduction…." He lifted the young Alphan's body easily and carried it from the room. Valin remained, looking about the vast, pastoral scene.

"Soon…" He said softly.

"Last one…" Ehrlich breathed as he and Bartlett eased the core material into the casing, his voice muffled by the helmet of the radiation hazard suit he wore. Carter observed the procedure from outside the shielded room, over a monitor. They had spent the last couple hours putting together the devices, eight in all, using the modified plans Krel had made that would provide a greater explosive yield than a standard nuclear charge. After a while, both of the elderly men doing the work were grateful for the moon's lesser gravity…it was delicate, precise work, requiring intense concentration that was itself exhausting. Combined with the lifting necessary, the task would have taken many times longer had they been in the normal gravity of their home. As it was, both men were nearly spent.

With the charge in place, Bartlett placed the cover on the casing, and Ehrlich bolted it in place. They turned and gave Carter a thumbs up. Alan checked the readings and flipped the intercom. "Great job, fellas. Radiation levels are down to background normal. Head for decontamination and come on out of there…" He called. Looking up at Krel, Alan smiled. "Thanks for the help…now we just have to hope those firecrackers do the job."

Krel nodded, and watched the pilot wheel off after his comrades. "I am certain they will…" He intoned to himself, ominously.

"Time?" Jessica asked.

"Seven hours, eighteen minutes to zero barrier." Sandra reported. 

"Anything from Alan yet?"

Sahn shook her head.

Jessica stabbed a finger at the console, activating the comm. "Ally, Nick, what's your status?"

Nick's boyish features appeared on the screen. "Everything's set. Just waiting for some nukes…"

"So are we…" Jessica echoed. "Stand by." As soon as she cut the channel, Sahn's console beeped. Alan's face popped up on the screen. "Carter to base. Nuclear charges ready and loaded. Heading back to base now."

"Good to hear from you, Alan…we were getting worried." Sandra exclaimed. Both Jessica and Carter grinned. "How many were you able to cobble together?" Jessica asked.

"Eight total. Our chaperone also came up with a way to increase the yield of each charge, so we should have more than enough to take care of the comet." Came the reply.

"Increased yield? How much?"

"Krel has the figures. Sending them to you now…" Alan's visage winked out, replaced with scrolling numbers and equations.

"Receiving data." Sandra confirmed.

"How is this going to impact our safety margin for detonation?" Jessica inquired. 

"Unknown, until the data is analyzed…"

Jessica stabbed the console again. "Mentor, get back here immediately. We have Carter's detonation figures, and need an impact projection asap…." She called.

"On my way." Came Mentor's voice, after a moment.

'Mentor' replaced the commlock on his belt and looked over at Valin. Both men stood in a large grove, not quite as large or elaborate as the environment cavern, but still sizable. Valin was observing two other Psychons moving a table, with a still unconscious Verdeschi strapped to it, to an apparatus situated in the center of the grove. The lower section looked like a standard, though highly advanced, hexagonal computer console. From the center of the console however, extending up to the ceiling, were a collection of crystalline spires of varying sizes, each pulsating with a different color, as if lit from within. As the crystals reached the ceiling, they seemed to take root and grow, extending outward from the center like a glass pool of water. The formations on the ceiling were clear, but flickered at random intervals with bursts of light, small discharges of energy leaping between points like synapses firing throughout a crystalline brain.

Valin met the doppelganger's eyes, and nodded. The duplicate Mentor went up to the console and placed a hand on a panel, which lit up at the touch. The pulsations of the central column grew faster, and 'Mentor' inclined his head as if in discomfort. After a few more moments, the pulsations returned to normal, and the impostor removed himself from it and left the grove. Valin watched in satisfaction and looked down to regard the unconscious Mentor, a small crystal chip sitting on the young man's temple, pulsating in time with the column, and a tiny trail of dried blood moving down his head from underneath it…

As soon as Carter's Eagle touched down, it was lowered to the underground hangars and technicians running load lifts began transferring the charges between the waiting Eagles. A winch and cable system was hurriedly installed in his Eagle, and the remaining charges set for it to place. Fraser took over Eagle Five, while Carter remained in Eagle One and Allison prepared Eagle Two. Nick moved over to co-pilot with Alan, in case there were problems and the pilot needed assistance. Ehrlich, Bartlett, Krel and the rest evacuated back to the base. Auto-loading cranes moved the Eagles to individual pads for take-off, and the pad lifts raised them into position.

'Mentor' arrived in Main Mission, taking position at one of the primary stations. He immediately began entering equations, running projections of blast radius and effects using the new enhanced explosive figures. Jessica watched him intently. "Well?" She asked.

"The blast radius has increased sixty-five percent, if these figures are correct. At current speeds, that leaves only….three hours, eight minutes to detonate before we risk hazardous radiation exposure to the planet." He replied.

Jessica looked at him like he'd just slapped her. "What?" She exclaimed. Her hand slapped the touchpad for the comms. "All Eagles, immediate lift-off! Timeline is now at three hours…repeat, three hours! Move it, gang!"

"Three…?" Alan exclaimed. "Right. Cut all checks….firing main motors…" Nick double-checked his harness as Carter hit the engines, and the Eagle launched itself into the sky.

"Right behind you, dad…" Allison called, and did the same. Fraser also acknowledged, and soon all Eagles were away and powering towards the comet, now starting to angle away from the moon as the satellite hurtled itself into the void, beginning to leave it and the green marble of the Alphans' home behind.

"Estimated flight time to comet?" Jessica asked.

"Forty-seven minutes." Sahn replied.

"I have optimal placement zones for the charges over the comet's surface plotted…" 'Mentor' added. "Uploading coordinates to onboard computers now."

"Receiving…programming complete." Nick confirmed.

"Confirmed." Fraser reported. Allison echoed the confirmation.

"Forty-seven minutes of waiting…" Jessica muttered.

"How's it going?"

Helena jumped, startled as David walked in; she had been so absorbed in the monitor readouts that she hadn't heard him. "Sorry." He apologized. Helena just smiled. "It's all right." She assured him, and turned her attention back to the monitors. "I've done everything Pete showed me, but I can't get any links established with the moonbase. The eagles have just launched, though, and are headed for the comet. They must have recovered the nuclear charges."

"How long do they have?"

Helena frowned. "According to the telemetry data, they just started a countdown of three hours, but the computer here says they still have just over seven before the comet can't be safely destroyed or diverted…there's some unusual data here I can't make sense of. Let's see if the computer can…." She punched in a series of commands. The computer hummed for a few moments, processing the data. It displayed the results on the screen.

"Wow…" David said, whistling. "That must be Mentor's handiwork. That Psychon brain of his….no wonder the time frame got cut in half. With detonation numbers like that, you have to blow it further away, to keep the same margin of safety you had originally."

"That also moves up our timetable for evacuation, in case things go wrong." Helena added. "Is everything ready?"

"All the remaining eagles are crammed to capacity with supplies and essentials. We left just enough room for the population…give the word, and everyone can be off this planet in fifteen minutes." He assured her. "I still hope it won't be necessary, though."

Helena smiled. "Neither do I…"

David returned her smile, but turned somber a moment later. "Mom….about our conversation earlier…if things do go wrong, and we have to go…I'm staying with you."

Helena shook her head. "David…"

"I mean it, mother." He cut her off, forcefully. "Call me selfish if you want, but you and Jess are all I have…and Jess can take care of herself. She's always been independent; Dad made sure of that. But I can't stand the thought of leaving you alone to face certain death."

"David…" Helena started, then choked on the emotions going through her.

"Sorry, mom…I've made up my mind. Dad and I may not have been very close, but one thing I did get from him is how to be stubborn. The only way I'm getting on an eagle is if you get on with me." David said, defiantly.

Helena managed a sad smile, and admired her son's determination….even as, deep inside, she regretted the actions she knew she would have to take, if the time came, to undermine it…

"Coming into range now…" Alan reported, adjusting his course as the comet grew quickly in the viewports. "Registering gravitational influence…" Nick reported from the co-pilot's station. "Running scan…."

"Link-up established with onboard computers. Receiving data…" 'Mentor' confirmed over the comm. His fingers flew over the console.

"Getting some interference…looks like a solid iron core….that would explain it." Nick remarked, checking the readings. "Mass readings consistent with moonbase scans; only a few hundred tons. Shouldn't be a problem."

"I don't know….getting an awful lot of fight from the controls. There's a hell of a lot more gravity coming from somewhere…." Alan remarked.

"What do you want to do?" Fraser called. Alan considered for a few moments. "What we came to do." He said, finally. "Get the charges planted. They're all we got, regardless…"

Allison smiled. "Check, dad. Moving in…."

In Main Mission, Jessica watched the eagles move in on the comet. "Surface areas for placement have been marked out in grids. Eagle One, take grids one through three; Eagle Two, grids four and five; Eagle Five, six through eight. Don't worry about perfection, just get in and get out." She called.

"Roger that." Fraser confirmed.

"How come I get the light load and you old timers get the tiger's share of the work?" Allison protested jokingly.

"That's 'lion's share', and it's because we have the experience…" Alan fired back, grinning.

"Sorry, Ally." Jessica called. "Eight charges, three eagles. Someone had to be short. Look on the bright side…you'll be done faster, and have a head start getting out of the blast radius…" 

"True…" Allison agreed, a smug lilt to her voice.

"Don't worry…I'm sure Alan isn't in any rush to relive that Shockwave incident…are you, Alan?" Fraser jibed.

"He better not…not with my boyfriend up there with him…" Jessica warned.

Nick grinned at the comment, but his face turned a bright shade of red. Alan chuckled and shook his head. "All right, people, let's focus on the job. You're giving the boy here a complex." He flipped some switches. "Adjusting course; heading for surface grid one. Gravity compensators to full."

"Confirmed." Nick replied.

"Breaking off for assigned sectors. Last one back buys the drinks…" Allison challenged, as her eagle broke formation and headed for the far side of the comet.

The others laughed, but felt the tension underneath the banter. They all knew what was at stake should their efforts fail.

**Chapter Seven**

"Scan complete." Reported one of the Psychons monitoring Mentor. "Neural mapping successful. Relevant memory and personality centers are being analyzed and assimilated."

"Excellent." Said the other.

Their attention was suddenly diverted by an insistent warning tone from one of the console panels. The first went over to investigate. "Synaptic degradation has increased to thirty percent. Another drop and we risk permanent damage. Valin must be informed." She exclaimed.

"Informed of what? That we are running out of time? He already knows that, as do we all. Inject another fifty micrograms…" The man ordered.

"That is our entire remaining reserve!" The woman protested.

"We have no choice!"

"Yes, we do! Him!" She stabbed a finger at Mentor.

"What are you suggesting?" He asked, his tone cautious.

"Full biometric absorption…"

"No!" The man yelled, almost frantic.

"It's the only other way…"

He shook his head vigorously. "And where will we get additional supplies from when his energy starts to run out? You saw the same projections I did…once the system adapt to such a source, there is no other substitute. We will have no choice but to start turning on each other. There are so few of us now….the course you suggest will only lead to our own extinction!"

The woman came up to him. "No….it won't. We will have the outsiders…his companions!" She again motioned to Mentor. "Once their efforts fail, they will be forced to come here…the only safe haven in range. Our science is superior…we can control them. Breed them. They will be a self-renewing resource. All the energy we need!"

"It's too dangerous…" The man protested. He closed his eyes and concentrated a moment. "Assimilation is complete. Access the memory analysis yourself." The woman paused, inclining her head as if trying to remember something. "See? His companions are strong-willed, independent and stubborn. They came from this place; they know it as well as we do, maybe better. It would only be a matter of time before they freed themselves and overwhelmed us."

"Yes…like they did our former home. The story of Psychon's destruction is still strong in his memory. As satisfying as it would be to make them pay for their hand in it, the risk is too excessive."

The man nodded with satisfaction. "Add the remaining reserve. Besides, in another few hours, it won't make any difference one way or the other…."

The woman nodded in resignation, and went over to a cabinet mounted to the wall. She entered a sequence of numbers on the keypad set in the door and it slid open, revealing empty shelves save for one, which held a vial of clear liquid and a metal cylinder of roughly the same size. She retrieved both and brought them to the computer console. She fit the vial on the end of the cylinder, and depressed the opposite end. The liquid in the vial darkened as a substance was added, turning it a metallic gray color. She removed the vial and shook it, examining. Then, she knelt under the console and pressed a control at the base. A panel slid open, and she inserted the vial into an equally sized depression. The panel slid closed, and the console hummed with activity. The crystal spires began to pulse at an increased rate, and the random flaring of light along the ceiling grew active and more intense as well.

She studied a readout. "Activity has increased….levels are low, but stabilizing. It gives us another day, at most…" She said.

"It will be enough…"

In Main Mission, 'Mentor's' eyes unfocused for a moment, as he concentrated on the new information he was receiving. Then, he relaxed, becoming more at ease, confident…he turned his attention back to the present events. The eagles were still registering the data he was feeding into their computers, overriding their onboard sensors and instead telling them what he wanted them to say. Everything was going according to plan.

"I sure wish we'd brought more people…doing this solo is proving to be tricky, even for me…" Allison remarked over the comm. "First charge in place, though I hope you're not counting off for neatness."

"It's a bomb, Ally…so long as it explodes when we want it to, I don't care what it looks like….get going; you've got an hour forty-five left…." Jessica called. 

"Speed is increasing, Jessica…" Sandra reported. "I think the comet is reacting to Terra Alpha's gravitational influence…." Jessica looked to 'Mentor' for confirmation.

He checked his figures. "Distance is just over one hundred thousand kilometers…should definitely be within the gravity well. The increase is negligible, but will continue to build until impact. At this distance, it won't affect our timetable."

"You're all right, people. Keep going…" Jessica assured them.

"Second charge in place and released." Nick called in. "Moving to grid three…"

"Same here.." Fraser chimed. "Number two down, one to go…"

Allison frowned as she listened. "Show-offs…" She muttered.

The other Alphans…Ehrlich, Bartlett, the rest that came to help in reviving the base…assembled in Main Mission to watch the efforts to avert the disaster threatening their home. Valin and the other Psychons the Alphans had met also gathered, though keeping a discreet distance from the humans as they observed. Every one was caught up in the drama playing out on the main screen…everyone, save one…

The young Psychon that Allison, Morrow and Fraser had encountered seemed to wander the halls aimlessly, his expression distant, as if in a fugue state. He wandered to the entrance to the underground areas, and started making his way down, finally entering the caverns beyond the constructed base areas. Staggering through the maze of tunnels, he turned away from the habitat sections, down a narrow, unused looking corridor. After several twists and turns, it terminated at a door. The youth slipped a hand into his robes, and motioned at the door with the other. The door slid back and he entered the grove where Mentor lay strapped down and connected to the crystalline computer, and the two Psychons had been arguing earlier. 

They both regarded him in confusion. "Joran…" The female asked. "What are you doing here? We did not sense you…" Her inquiry was abruptly cut off as the young man, Joran, suddenly straightened, focused and aware, pulled the laser from his robes and shot them both in quick succession. They fell to the ground, stunned. He moved quickly to the table where Mentor lay and undid the straps. After freeing them, he reached up and grasped the crystal embedded in Mentor's temple and with a quick, forceful motion, yanked it free.

Mentor sat up instantly, grabbing at his temple and screaming. He lost his equilibrium and fell off the table, landing hard on the stone floor. Joran moved to help him up, but the half-Psychon backed away as he regained his feet. Still holding his temple, he motioned for the youth to keep his distance.

"You're all right…the disorientation will pass in a moment…" Joran assured him. "We must hurry…time is running out."

"Who….who are you?" Mentor asked. He checked his temple; his fingers were bloody, but it was drying, the flow stopping. The wound was shallow, and not serious.

"My name is Joran. I want to help you, and your friends. But there is no time. Hurry…" He stressed, going to the unconscious figures and taking their weapons. He handed one to Mentor and pocketed the other. Mentor took it hesitantly, then still confused and disoriented, followed the young man out of the grove.

"What is going on?!" He asked, as they hurried through the tunnels. 

"Valin and the others are going to betray your friends. They have no intention of helping you stop the comet. They are counting on it colliding with your world…" Joran explained hurriedly.

"That makes no sense. Why?"

"It would take too long to explain. In simplest terms, it is an experiment."

Mentor stopped. "An experiment?!" He cried, incredulous.

"Yes….and if we do not stop them in the next few minutes, it will be too late!" Joran pleaded.

Mentor continued on, his pace considerably faster…

"Last charge gone. I'm outta here." Allison called, yanking hard on the control levers. Her eagle angled sharply upwards and away, powering from the comet as fast as her engines could handle.

"Alan, how're you doing? Fraser and Ally are already clearing out…" Jessica asked.

"We're working on it…" Nick called back. "You sure picked a winner of a spot for this last one, Mentor….we've got all kinds of debris kicking up, probably from a gas pocket blowing….we can't stabilize the cable to place the charge!"

"You've got fifteen minutes left, and you need five to clear the blast zone…do your best, but make it fast…" Jessica advised. She tried to keep her voice calm, but her concern still made it through. Her knuckles were white from gripping the console as she watched the two men, one her friend and lover, fight to steady their ship.

"I'm gonna try to wedge it into the crack….let me know when the cable is lined up with the fissure…." Alan shouted, over the screaming of the engines, and the hammering of small bits of rock bouncing off the hull. Nick nodded, and kept his attention on the scanner. "A bit more to the right…" He called. "A bit more….now!!"

Alan jammed the control levers downwards and gunned the engine, putting them practically into a nosedive at the comet's surface. Nick backed up into his seat, trying to pull back from the rapidly approaching rock…just as it looked like they were going to hit, Carter pulled back hard, bringing the nose up and angling away from the surface. The cable trailed behind, underneath the passenger module, the nuclear charge dangling on the end. The cable dipped just inside the fissure as it followed the eagle's course, and the grapple followed suit, jamming the charge into the gap. 

"Got it!" Nick yelled.

"Detach grapple, quick!" Alan ordered. Nick jabbed the release control….and nothing happened.

The slack in the cable was taken up quickly by the eagle's fast assent, and pulled taut as it ran out. The wedged grapple caught in the fissure and held fast, tethering the eagle to the comet. The cable shook but held as it anchored them, bringing them to an abrupt and jarring halt. Sparks flew as consoles overloaded and shorted out, and both men were thrown against their harnesses.

Nick pulled himself up and checked the working scanners. "The grapple's jammed. It can't release the bomb." He looked to Carter. "Looks like you succeeded too well…."

"Can you detach the winch assembly?" Alan asked.

"Not from here…" Nick replied, unbolting himself and getting up. He keyed the doors, but they remained closed. He tried to push them open, but they refused to budge. "The mechanism must've shorted out. I can't get out there to sever the cable…"

"Strap back in, mate….I've an idea…" Carter proclaimed. Nick hurried back into his seat as Alan worked controls. "Automatic circuits are fried, but the manual release should still work…" He reached over and opened a panel with warning labels all around it. Inside was a red lever, and his hand closed around it. "Hang on…" He breathed, and pulled the lever hard.

The ship shuddered, and thunderous booms filled the cabin as the explosive bolts blew the latches securing the passenger module to the eagle frame. Carter gunned the thrusters and the frame lifted away, leaving the module still tethered to the comet.

"We're clear!" Nick reported. "How are we on time, base?"

"Nine minutes. Lean on those engines, Nick…..hurry…" Jessica cried, tense with worry.

"Eagles Two and Five now clear of blast zone…." 'Mentor' announced.

"Come on…."

"Eight minutes…" Sandra counted down.

Valin glanced over at 'Mentor', who nodded without turning around. He began entering commands into his console. 

"Hold it!"

The Alphans watching the screen turned as Joran rushed into the room, laser in hand. A moment later, the room burst into a flurry of activity. Valin and the Psychons with him drew their weapons and used Joran's distraction to gun down the Alphans that had been standing around watching the mission on the screen. 'Mentor' tapped a final key as Joran took aim and stunned him. The impostor slumped in his chair, but all the consoles in Main Mission went dark, as did the screen. Jessica and Sandra had instinctively ducked at the sounds of laser fire, and were coming to the realization that they were not only not stunned, but the only ones still standing….other than the Psychons.

"What happened?" Sandra asked.

"What I should have expected…they're double-crossing us…" Jessica spat. She looked down at the consoles, stabbing them with a finger. "We've been locked out…Nick…."

Joran directed his laser at Valin and his group. The others reciprocated, but Valin seemed unconcerned. He walked casually down to the lower level, by Jessica and Sandra.

"Why?" Jessica asked, her voice almost a whisper.

"You would not understand…"

"Go ahead, Valin." Joran called. "Tell them. Tell them their world will be destroyed because of your insane lust for power…"

"Quiet, boy!" He snapped. "You know least of all…"

"We don't have time for this!" Jessica shouted. "Unlock the computers. Let us finish our work…" 

"It is already finished." Valin explained. "It is regrettable that it must be this way, but you are not the only one fighting for survival…"

"We're clear!" Nick called. "Eagle One to base. We're clear…you can detonate any time…" He said with relief, slumping back in the chair. Silence answered his call. "Base?" He repeated. "We've lost contact…did the communications circuits burn out as well?"

Alan checked over the controls. "No…they check out. But there's no response." He did a complete check of the flight systems. "No response from anything. The system's gone to automatic!"

"I'm not reading any indications of an explosion…they haven't detonated yet." Nick realized. "What are they waiting for? They only have a few minutes left…"

"Something's wrong. I'm going to manual…" Alan's fingers worked madly at the flight console. "Nothing. The systems are locked; I can't take control."

Nick snatched up his commlock. "Allison, Bill…can you hear me?"

Fraser's face appeared in the small screen. "I read you, Nick. What's going on? I've lost contact with Alpha…"

The communicator beeped, and Allison appeared. "There you are. My systems are frozen; I can't maneuver or contact anyone…"

"Neither can we." Nick assured both of them. "Plus, the charges haven't been blown yet."

"It must be the Psychons…they're up to something…" Fraser concluded.

"Yeah, maybe…" Alan breathed, listening in. "Either way, we can't wait any longer. Nick, pull that panel to your right, there…" He said tersely, indicating the console to the side. Nick put the commlock down and twisted to grasp the panel. With a jerk, it slid out, revealing rows of circuit boards within. "Now, rip out the circuit boards. Those control the remote piloting systems…"

"You're going back, aren't you?" Allison called, still on the commlock's monitor, as Nick began to yank out the electronics. Sparks leapt, and wisps of smoke drifted up from the panel. 

"We don't have a choice, Ally…those charges have to be blown now, and Alpha isn't responding. Maybe they can't…we're the only ones left." Alan said somberly.

The flight console beeped and came to life. "We have control…" Nick confirmed.

"Coming about…" Alan said, turning the yoke. 

"Dad…" Allison sobbed.

"Sorry, sweetheart…but you know it has to be done…"

Eagle One pivoted on an invisible axis, and swung about, heading back the way they came…

"Survival? How does destroying our home ensure your survival?" Sandra asked, indignantly. 

"It won't…" Said a voice, as Valin was about to speak. There was a bright flash from the commander's office, where the Psychons were covering the room, and they fell in a heap as they turned to investigate the source of the sound, stunned. Mentor stood in the open doorway, laser in hand.

Valin snarled. "You!" he spat, and brought his own gun around. Jessica seized the initiative and threw a kick into the man's sternum, then followed with a stiff arm open hand strike across the jaw. Valin folded, falling to the floor, losing the grip on his weapon. Jessica snatched it up. "Joran, break the computer lock-out! Get us back up! Mentor, Sandra, initiate the detonation sequence as soon as we're active again. We're out of time!" She directed, keeping the Psychon covered.

Joran dove for the console and began tapping the touchscreen. After a few tense moments, the screens again lit up. Mentor shoved Balon's unconscious body, having reverted to normal after being stunned, from his station and frantically called up the relevant sequences.

"Jessica! Eagle One is returning to the comet!" Sandra exclaimed. On the main screen, they all saw the frame of Eagle One closing with the bright, speeding ball of ice and rock.

"How close are they?" She called.

Mentor studied the readout. "Not close enough…" He said, and pressed a key. The computers signaled a flat repeating tone: the detonation command had been sent. Jessica turned on him, her face panicked. "No, wait!"

A moment later, the screen flared with a blinding light…

"Range nine-five. Transmission range in two minutes." Nick reported.

"Copy." Alan acknowledged. "Nick…" He started, looking over at the young man. "You're a good lad. Your dad would be proud of the man you've become…"

Nick nodded, with a sad smile. "Thanks. And thanks for being there for me…"

"Anytime…" He looked over to the small commlock screen. "Ally…take care of yourself, eh?" He said, his voice cracking. "You're the best daughter a dad could have…I'm proud of you, sweetheart." He blinked back tears.

Allison didn't bother; her face was wet with them. "I love you, dad…" She cried, touching the screen.

"I love you too, kiddo…"

"Ally…" Nick said quietly. "Tell Jess…tell her I love…"

His words were cut off as the cockpit was flooded with light. Both men covered their eyes instinctively, turning away from the blinding glare, and all their remaining systems went dead from the intense magnetic pulse.

"DAD!" Allison screamed, as her commlock screen went blank. The monitor on her flight console snapped on, showing Bill Fraser's face. "Allison, we have comms back…Alpha's online! They blew the charges!" He called.

"What about the eagle? Dad…" She asked, frantic.

"I don't know…the explosion's blinded my sensors…" He replied.

Allison jabbed at her controls. "I'm going back…"

Her eagle swung around and leapt forward as the engines fired…

As their eyes recovered, Jessica's gaze once again found Mentor's. "I told you to wait!" She hissed.

"There was no time…their eagle was about to cross the extreme edge of the blast zone, and we'd just passed the safety margin for Terra Alpha. If I'd taken the time to explain it to you, we'd have lost the chance to detonate at all without killing everyone." He explained. "They may be a little singed around the edges, but they should be all right…"

"Run a full scan…find them." She ordered. "And see if we actually took care of that thing…" She turned back to Valin…who was no longer there, slipping away in the confusion. "Damn!" She cursed. "We have to find him…"

"That will be difficult…" Sandra admitted. "He could become almost anything…"

"There's a way around that…" Joran spoke up. He moved to the main console and entered some commands. The room was suddenly bathed in a soft, purple glow…Joran tensed, as if in pain, and Mentor shuddered, examining himself as if something were on him. After a moment, the glow faded, and the lighting returned to normal. "There…" Joran said. "Now, whatever form he might be in, he'll stay in. As will every other one of my people on the base."

"What did you do? It felt like a million insects crawling on my skin…" Mentor asked.

"We call it a 'gene-lock'…it's a derivative of Dorcon technology." Joran explained. "They developed a means of preventing Psychons from transforming themselves, to keep them imprisoned. We captured the technology from a Dorcon bounty hunter some years back, and modified it. Now, it locks us into whatever form we happen to be in when the field is activated."

"Why would you need to do that?" Jessica asked.

"To avoid detection. Many races out there still hunt us…and it is known to them that no Psychon can hold a transformation for more than an hour, perhaps two or three if they are strong and determined. If they suspect someone of being a Psychon, all they need do is secure them and wait. Eventually, if they are, they will revert back to themselves. The gene-lock prevents that. They cannot transform back, even if they wished. Unfortunately, there is a side-effect. If the gene-lock is not reversed within thirty hours, anyone not in their natural form will begin to suffer permanent cellular damage, eventually resulting in death."

"Clever…" Jessica mused. "Well, let's hope he turned into an insect or small animal…something that can't do much harm. We still need to find him, regardless…"

"If I know him, he will head for Psychlos…" Joran offered.

"What's that?"

"I know the name…it's from ancient Psychon myth." Mentor joined in. "Psyche was a goddess who created the perfect world. But it was lifeless and lonely, so she created life to populate it. Psychlos was the first Psychon, a man so perfect Psyche herself fell in love with him. They mated and created the Psychon race."

"Sounds similar to the stories of Adam and Eve, the first humans, from whom all others descended." Sandra remarked.

"Psychlos is our computer, a hybrid of mechanical and biological technology. It's processors incorporate living neural components to give it the capacity to theorize beyond the limits of pure logic and physics. It's the only way a machine can control the transformation process." Joran explained. "He is heading there now…"

"You sound sure of that…" Jessica said suspiciously.

"I am…I can sense him…he intends to use Psychlos' metamorphosis power against us…we have to stop him."

Jessica sighed. "Sandra, see if you can revive some of our people here…we need everyone we can get. Mentor, keep scanning for Eagle One and confirm the comet was destroyed. Contact Fraser and Allison to help you. Joran and I will take care of Valin."

"That will take time; the radiation field is interfering with scans…I will keep you informed." Mentor told her, going back to work.

"Fine….let's go." She said to Joran, and ran off to find Valin.

**Chapter Eight**

Allison pushed her Eagle to the limit to get back to the site of the explosion, all the while calling on the communications channels. "Dad! Nick! Can you read me? Dad, it's Allison…I'm coming back for you. Can you read me?"

Only static replied. The scanners were also of little help…the radiation remnant was scrambling the readings. The screens protecting her from it were holding, but she feared her father's Eagle might not even have that much. Desperation fuelled her search as she strained visually to make out anything that might resemble an Eagle…

"Please be all right….please…." She whispered.

Carter groaned, and held his head. He blinked several times to clear his vision, only to realize he couldn't see very well because all the cockpit lights were out. He looked over and strained to make out Nick, laying back in his seat.

"Hey…you all right?" he asked, quietly.

"Yeah…I think so. At least I'm not glowing in the dark yet…" Nick joked. "Too bad…least I'd be able to see…"

"Hey…boy's still got a sense of humor…" Alan chuckled. "Don't suppose anything here's working, eh?" He asked, poking at the controls.

"Nothing. Electromagnetic pulse fried everything we had left. Even the commlocks are toast." Nick replied. "Which means we've got about an hour's breathable air left. The spacesuits will insulate us from the cold for a while…just long enough to suffocate. Personally, I prefer freezing to death."

"I prefer none of the above. We're gonna get out of this…just wait…"

"That'll be easy…not much else to do…"

Alan nodded. For several minutes, they sat in silence.

"So…you and Jessie thinking of getting hitched soon?" He asked, abruptly.

"What?!" Nick blurted. "No…well, thought about it, maybe…I mean…don't tell me you're involved in that betting pool I've heard about too?"

"Involved? Who do you think came up with the idea?" Carter replied with a smirk.

Morrow huffed. "Okay, wise guy…when are you and mom getting back together?"

Carter straightened in his chair. "Who says we plan to?"

"You do, every time you look at her. Neither one of you is as sneaky as you like to think you are…I see you stealing glances at each other at the picnics and get-togethers all the time…why play hard to get?" He asked.

"Your mom and I dated a while back…it didn't work out." Alan said defensively.

"I know…she told me all about it. Times change, things are different now. I'd think after all this time, you'd have learned not to waste any…life's too short, or so you old folks always tell us…" Nick tried to hold back a laugh.

Alan tried to be indignant, but failed miserably. He burst into laughter, and soon Nick followed suit. After a few moments, both were gasping for breath. "Ohhh, aren't we a pair…" the veteran pilot observed. "Where's Doctor Ruth when you need her…"

"Who?" Nick asked, between breaths.

"I'll tell you later."

"Anything yet?" Mentor called.

"Not yet…" Allison reported. "I'm having to search practically visually…all but short range scans are swamped with interference. If I can't spot them, I'll practically run into them before they show up on the sensors…"

"Well, do the best you can, but don't take too much longer. The moon's getting further away every minute…stay too long and you might not be able to catch up." He warned.

"I know…I'll be home by dinnertime, mom…" she shot back. Something caught her eye. "Wait…I think I got something…" Her face broke into a wide grin as the faint glint of metal outlined the shape of an Eagle ahead. "I've got them!" She mashed the comm. button. "Dad! Nick! I have you in sight…are you all right? Dad?" She switched channels. "I can't get a response…"

"Not surprising. As close as they were, they probably got a full dose of EMP. I doubt anything's working." Mentor postulated.

"I'm going to dock and tow them in. Have Fraser standing by…I'll have to burn the engines continuously to get up to speed with them attached. It'll eat through my fuel pretty quick."

"I'll have him refueled and a secondary tank attached as soon as I can. Good luck, Allison." Mentor's visage winked out.

She scoffed. "Who needs luck? I'm a Carter…"

"What did you mean before…that you could 'sense' Valin…" Jessica asked, as she and Joran made their way to the underground tunnels.

"All of us contributed to the creation of Psychlos…" Joran explained. "It is, in a very literal sense, part of us…"

"In what way?"

"We each…donated…some of our own neural tissue to the development of the bioprocessor…" He admitted.

Jessica's face mirrored her feeling of disgust. "You mean you all gave up part of your brains to that machine?"

"Just a few cells…from that, we grew additional tissue." He qualified. "When the processors became operational, we discovered an unusual byproduct. The neural tissue allowed the computer to align to our brainwaves, allowing for a kind of 'link' between the computer and our minds. And, through it, we could perceive each other as well. In time, as more neural matter was added, the intensity of the link grew. Eventually, we were in constant rapport with both the computer and each other."

"Creepy…" Jessica admitted. "It doesn't…control you…does it?"

"No…though it has developed a rudimentary sentience. It is a gestalt mind…an amalgam of each of us, formed through time in the link. Had we not run low on supplies, its intelligence would be much more developed by now." He finished. "Valin believed the comet was his last chance to obtain what he needs…"

"Which is…?"

"Psychronium. A rare mineral, thus far found only on Psychon. It was the basis of all our transformation technology. It's structure contains an instability that is similar to that of our own cell structure, which allows us our metamorphic abilities. Our world was saturated with it. It is very versatile, as a power source and a synaptic enhancer. Psychlos requires a regular supply. But our stocks have run low, and we have not found another source. Its instability prevents us from synthesizing it, and the conditions under which it forms naturally cannot be recreated in laboratory conditions except at the microscopic level…insufficient for our needs."

"How does the comet fit in?" Jessica asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Psychronium is only formed through a certain combination of elements fused together under extreme heat and pressure. It is typically found in minute amounts at the site of celestial impacts…we believe such an impact occurred during the earliest stages of our planet's formation. When we encountered the comet on the far side of your system, the moon passed close enough for its gravity to alter the comet's orbit. Once we determined the comet's new course would bring it into collision with your world, Valin got the idea to use it to create a new source of the mineral. We did not know your world was inhabited at the time…he began using Psychlos to transmute the comet's core, forming the necessary elements to produce the mineral upon impact…."

He paused. "Get down!" He yelled, pushing Jessica to the ground, as a section of rock above them glowed red and exploded. "Move!" he commanded, bolting up and running. Jessica had barely moved to follow when the area they'd been lying on a moment earlier also glowed and exploded. They continued sprinting down the tunnels, dodging explosions with each shouted warning. Finally, the detonations stopped, and they were able to rest.

"Handy talent, that link…" Jessica said between gasps.

"Double-edged sword…" Joran corrected. "I can anticipate his attacks, but he can also pinpoint our position through it. You should go on alone…I will only endanger you further…" 

"No. You've helped us against your own people…I won't abandon you to them now. Besides, I'll need your help to deal with that computer…come on…" She insisted. They started down the hall, then stopped. "It's too late…" Joran breathed.

The area just ahead took on a greenish glow, which quickly resolved into a sphere of bright light. Jessica raised her laser and fired, but the beam had no effect. She turned to run, but the sphere was upon them in a moment, enveloping them both. Another moment, and the sphere dissipated back into thin air. Of Jessica and Joran, there was no trace…

"I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with the letter…S…"

"Stars…" Nick moaned. "This is a really stupid game, uncle Alan…"

"Well, I forgot to bring a deck of cards…your turn…" Carter retorted.

"I'll pass…"

"Shhh!" Carter said suddenly. He waited. "Did you feel that?"

Nick sat up. "No…feel what?"

Alan grinned. "They've found us…" He said.

Just then, the ship gave the slightest of shudders, barely perceivable unless you were in a dead ship with no activity.

"Allison's just docked with us…" Carter said gleefully.

"How do you know it's Allison?" Nick asked.

"Because she's the only one I know besides yours truly who can pull off such a smooth docking…" He smacked the youngster's arm. "Told you we'd get out of this…that's my girl…" He beamed. 

"I've got them. Locking mooring clamps." Allison announced to Main Mission. "Sensors reading two life forms. Radiation levels inside are normal. They're all right…" Her voice was loud and strong, full of joy and relief that her father and friend were alive and well. "Ships are secured. Coming about for return trajectory…"

"Fraser's lifting off now. He'll rendezvous with you for refueling in three hours." Mentor reported.

"Acknowledged. Then we can load up the gang and head home…" She sang. As she started to turn the conjoined ships, she glanced up out of the viewport at the green marble of her home, still distant but oh so close. As she watched, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She focused on it, and her smile disappeared like mist in the morning sun. "No…" she breathed. Working quickly, she focused her scanners in the direction of her gaze, tuning them to their highest intensity. "God, please, no…" she whimpered, as the screen showed the results…

Jessica awoke to find herself lying down…the surface under her was hard and metallic; a table. She tried to sit up, but something prevented her…she looked down to see her arms and legs were restrained by tight metal bands. She could also feel one around her throat. She strained to see as much of her surroundings as she could. She was in a large grotto, or grove…just behind her head, she could make out some kind of island, perhaps a computer console. The ceiling glittered with what looked like diamonds, or tiny glass stalactites. Every now and then, she saw flashes of light spark between them.. Brilliant colors played along the walls, obviously being projected by something behind her that she couldn't make out. 

Her observations were cut off as Valin came into her view. He was smiling as he looked down at her. She struggled against her restraints, which made him laugh.

"Please, Miss Koenig…you will only injure yourself, and that will benefit no one, will it?" He purred.

"I know about your plans…" she told him. "They're finished now. The comet's destroyed. There's no reason to continue…stop this before more people get hurt…" 

Valin laughed. "Oh, dear girl…you know nothing of my plans. They are far from over…and your part in them is just beginning." He gloated. "Soon, you will understand everything…or, at least, the part of you that survives will." 

"Where is Joran?" She asked.

"He is being…reminded…where his loyalties lay."

"You have got to be kidding…"

Allison's face was grim on the screen. "I only wish I were…but see for yourself." She pressed a switch, and the screen view changed. A bright yellow-white ball was clearly visible, rapidly shrinking as it moved away from the camera catching the image. "We didn't destroy it, Mentor. Your earlier readings were right; the comet's core was incredibly dense for its size, and the charges simply blew away the outer layers and superheated the remains. I'm reading all sorts of metallic and trans-uranic elements…and its speed is increasing. We're out of charges, Mentor…please tell me there's still some way to stop it…"

Mentor was silent for several moments, trying to find an answer. "I…don't know, Ally. We'll get to work on it. Just rendezvous with Fraser as fast as you can…" He prompted, and muted the channel. His gaze met Sandra's. "Process the data from Eagle Two as fast as you can, so we can start running projections. I'll….tell the others…."

Sandra just nodded and got to work. She had been unable to rouse any of the stunned Alphans, and was grateful for something she could make progress on. Mentor slumped in his chair and keyed the comm. "Main Mission to Jessica. Jessica, it's Mentor. I have news from Allison…." He called.

Silence.

"Jessica? Mentor calling Jessica, come in…" He repeated. There was still no answer. Mentor stood and snatched up a laser. "Valin…I knew I should've shot him when I had the chance…" He snarled, and stalked off.

David and Helena had been outside of the science module, watching the sky for the detonation. David had set up Alan's telescope to track it visually, though the light of the comet had been visible even in daytime. When the charges exploded, the flare looked briefly like a second sun, to the point that many people averted or shielded their eyes. As soon as it faded, David went to the telescope and looked for verification of what they all hoped. What he found knotted his insides…he could barely say the words.

"It didn't work."

Helena looked at him, but her eyes were elsewhere, focused on some point far away in time and space. "And so it ends…" She said softly. Her eyes focused clearly on him. "You better tell the others to prepare for evacuation. There isn't much time; the moon will be out of range soon."

David nodded solemnly, and went to spread the word. Helena waited until he was a good distance away, then activated her commlock, which every Alphan had kept for communications purposes over long distances. "Bob…" She called. Mathias' face appeared on the screen. "We have to evacuate the colony. I need you to do as we discussed…"

"I understand." He replied. "I'll take care of it."

"Thank you, Bob." Helena said, with a sad smile. She cut the channel and gazed up into the sky, her thoughts far away…as she heard the sounds of activity in the distance, as word spread and people began to prepare to leave, she turned and walked in the opposite direction, out of the camp and into the fields beyond…

Valin turned from Psychlos' console, frustrated. The computer had to use a greater reserve of energy to teleport people while the Dorcon gene-lock was active; the point of the lock was to prevent cellular alteration, after all. Now, the computer's power levels were too low to teleport the others; the lock had to be released. He brandished his laser and strode out of the grove, pausing at the doorway a moment to look back at the prone, restrained form of Joran lying near the base of Psychlos, a crystal probe at his temple. His unconscious body occasionally moved as a muscle spasmed here and there, as if he were experiencing a nightmare. Valin smiled, knowing that what the youth was going through was far worse than that, then disappeared down the tunnels.

Mentor had run down to the lower levels and was just entering the mined-out sections that Valin and the others had converted for their uses when he caught sight of the Psychon. He had just enough time to duck behind a rock outcropping before a laser sliced through the air where he'd just been, scorching the rock wall behind.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Valin…" He called. "There's still time. All you have to do is help us, and we'll go away and never bother you again."

"I think we're well past lying to one another, don't you think…" Valin replied, moving to try and flank Mentor's position, staying low. He knew the tunnels well…getting behind the Alphan would be easy. "Your grandfather understood…to achieve greatness, you must make sacrifices. The destruction of your world is a small price to pay for what I will accomplish with the fruits of its death…"

"My grandfather was insane, deluded by power. It seems to be a common condition among Psychon men…Dorzak had it, and now you." Mentor countered, himself moving for better position.

"You think I'm insane?" Valin called as he moved. "How little you know…you and that fool Joran. Both of you are too young to understand…we are superior. Our intellect, our abilities raise us above lesser beings! Why should we not use them, then, to rule? It is our right!" He paused, sneaking around a large formation of rock. "I had hoped you would see it…you are Psychon. Your blood may be diluted, but your mind is as keen as ours. You can overcome your lesser heritage and help us seize our destiny! Together, we can unlock the secrets of creation itself, and reshape it to our will!"

"I find creation much more interesting just as it is…and the price is too high." Came Mentor's response, close by. Valin readied himself.

"Then join your friends and family…in death!" Valin boomed, stepping out and firing…only to hit bare rock. Mentor was nowhere to be seen. He looked around, frantically, turning…and Mentor, stepping out from an outcropping behind him, shot him down. Valin crumpled, and Mentor stared for a moment at the body…unconscious but alive.

"Here's something for your superior intellect to chew on…if you're going to sneak up on someone…don't talk so much." He said, bluntly.

"That's nearly everyone…" David called, helping the few remaining Alphans onto the eagle. Bob Mathias was at the hatch, helping them squeeze into the supply-filled passenger section. "Good." He said. "We can't hold many more. Come on, David. We have to go…"

"I'm staying, uncle Bob. I can't leave mom alone." David replied.

"David, she doesn't want you to die with her…you know that." Bob said, attempting reason.

"I told her; if she doesn't leave, then I don't leave…now go on. You're running out of time."

"David, please…" Bob pleaded.

"I can't, Bob…I'm sorry."

Bob nodded, in understanding. "So am I…" He said, and lifted the laser he'd concealed. David didn't even have time to react before Mathias stunned him. "Sorry, son…" He apologized, as he hefted the young man's limp body in his arms. "But I promised your mom you'd be safe…" He shuffled through the crowd of people and set David down in a relatively clear, safe area. "Tell the pilot he can lift off…" He said solemnly.

The ground shook as, one after another, eagles rose into the sky and quickly disappeared. The remaining small cluster of people who chose to remain watched them go, a mixture of heartbreak and relief on their faces. They held one another, and continued to watch even after the last eagle could no longer be seen. All that remained was a bright pinpoint of light, like a star, shining despite the much brighter sun overhead, and steadily growing larger….

Mentor arrived at the grove and released Jessica from the restraints. "The comet wasn't destroyed…" He informed her. "The core readings I got in the eagle were correct; Valin and his people must have faked the readings we took from here. It was just too dense…I don't think we could have made enough charges to destroy it."

"I know…Joran told me they'd been transforming it…Joran!" She exclaimed, seeing him on a similar table on the opposite side of the computer. He was thrashing, convulsing. They rushed over to him; Mentor began to remove the restraints while Jessica examined the probe on his temple. "I hope this is the right thing to do…" She said, as if in prayer, gripped the crystal, and yanked it off. Joran screamed as his eyes opened wide and he threw himself off of the table. Jessica grabbed him to steady him. "Joran…are you all right?" She looked up at Mentor. "That thing must be Psychlos…see if you can figure out how to operate it while I check on him. It may be our last chance to stop the comet…" She looked back at Joran. "Hey…are you all right? Can you hear me?"

Mentor nodded and got to work, examining the consoles. Joran looked at her and gradually began to calm down, his hands coming up to his temples. He tried to speak, but it took some moments before the words came out. "Th…thank…you." He said, groaning. 

"What happened?" Jessica asked. "What was Valin doing to you?"

"N…not Valin…" He choked. "Pyschlos…group mind…overwhelmed…drowning…almost lost myself." He took several deep breaths, holding onto her. "I told you…it cannot control minds…but when you have what seems like millions of voices screaming in your mind, all saying the same things, it can make for very powerful…suggestions…"

Jessica nodded. "But you're all right now?"

"I…will be…" He assured her. "Without the direct interface, the voices have faded to the usual background level. I can shut them out…"

Mentor looked over at them. "I hate to interrupt, but if the therapy session is over, I could use some assistance…" He intoned. Jessica gave him a sour look, but Joran pulled himself to his feet and went to the console beside him. "I believe I have figured out the basic interface, but accessing the transformation sequences and targeting them are another matter…" Mentor explained.

"What are you trying to do?" Joran asked.

"Alter the remaining comet fragment to something that won't destroy our planet on impact…"

"You can't…"

"Why not?" Jessica asked.

Joran looked at her. "They spent almost two of your weeks altering the comet's composition…with such low reserves of Psychronium, the computer could only transform a certain amount at a time. According to these readings…" He motioned to the console. "…even if we drained every last bit of power from it, Psychlos could not now transform enough of the comet's mass to save your world. Perhaps in conjunction with the nuclear charges, we might have diverted it or something ... I am sorry."

"I can't accept that…" Jessica said, determined. "We could alter parts of it, at select areas, to some explosive material…give it an eccentric spin, turn it…something! Anything!"

"The problem isn't just in the transformation itself…it's in projecting the power as well. The comet's much farther away now than it was when they changed it. Half the power would be expended just reaching it, let alone changing it…" Joran explained, obviously disappointed at the situation as well.

"We can't just give up…this is our home we're talking about!" She cried. "Mentor…"

Mentor looked up from the console. The despair in his eyes gave Jessica her answer, even as he shook his head in response...

Chapter Nine 

"Fine…" Jessica said, angrily. "If it can't help us, then it's not going to hurt us anymore either…" She snatched up her laser and leveled it at the computer.

Mentor and Joran, as one, raised their hands and moved to stop her. "No, no, no, no, no…Jessica, wait!" Mentor yelled hurriedly. "Remember the stories…what happened on Psychon, with your father and Psyche…"

Jessica paused. "He…he tried to damage the computer, disable it so his people could escape…" She said, recalling the tales she was told as a young girl.

"Yes…but the damage he caused started a cascade reaction that released Psyche's energy stores uncontrollably…" Mentor continued, prompting. "Causing the planet to explode…"

Jessica's face softened as she realized, and she lowered the weapon. Both men gave an unconscious sigh of relief. "Psychlos doesn't have enough energy to destroy the moon, but there's more than enough to obliterate the base and everyone in it…" Joran confirmed. "But it can be powered down and safely dismantled. If you so choose…"

Jessica regarded him, confused. "If we so choose? Why wouldn't we? It's been nothing but trouble for us…"

Joran nodded. "I understand, and I regret the use to which Valin put it…but it does represent our life's work. Your grandfather's work, as well…" He said to Mentor. "He pioneered the technology. The scientists on Psychon blamed it for the planet's ecological degradation, so we left to preserve it. Many of the cultures we've encountered either feared it too much, or coveted it for their own purposes, and so we left again, and again…all we've wanted was to expand our knowledge, our understanding. But power corrupts…" He paused, looking at Valin and coming to an understanding. "And as long as it exists, it will continue to corrupt, one way or another." He finished, looking over to them. "It seems you're right. It will have to be destroyed."

"I am sorry, Joran." Jessica said, gently. "You've done nothing but help us against your own people, and in return, we destroy everything you've worked for your whole life. Not much of a reward…"

"Things are what they are…we make choices, we live with the consequences. I will start the power down sequence…" He said, a twinge of regret in his voice.

"Not yet…" Mentor interceded. Jessica looked at him, perplexed. "We shouldn't let all that power go to waste." 

"It's too dangerous, Mentor…" Jessica warned, concerned. "Don't start sounding like your grandfather, please…"

Mentor just smiled.

Alan looked over at Nick as the latter searched through panel after panel, trying to find something that wasn't burned out or overloaded to use to restore their systems. "It's no use, son…there's nothing in here that'll get our comms back, or anything else for that matter."

Nick fell back into his seat, groaning and throwing circuit boards in frustration. "I hate this…the waiting, the silence. I mean, Allison's right there, a couple meters away, and we can't talk to her!" He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

"I know how you feel…" Alan sympathized. "Pity we can't roll down the windows and lean out, give a knock on her viewport…" He mused.

Nick looked at him like he was a raving lunatic…then Carter started cracking up. The laughter was contagious, and soon both of them were roaring.

Alan recovered first. "One thing I learned a long time ago was not to get worked up over things you can't change. You just end up miserable, and still in the same situation." He told Morrow.

Nick nodded, knowing the pilot meant more than just their current predicament. "I know…it's just frustrating not being able to do anything about it…"

"Your dad was the same way…you come by it honestly, kid…" He chuckled.

"How…how do you cope? If you don't mind my asking…" Nick said warily. "I mean, I remember when the accident happened…and I remember you were pretty withdrawn for a long time after. But, eventually, you came back and it was like nothing was different. Doesn't it ever bother you?"

"Yeah, it does…wouldn't be human if it didn't." Alan admitted. "I mean, I was quite the athlete…then, suddenly, to have that taken away…" He shook his head. "I was mad at the world for a long time. Then, with doc Russell's help, I realized something. We spent twenty years out there, wandering the universe…and it seemed that every alien we came across had some sort of beef against us; they didn't want us near their planet, they wanted to kill us and take over our bodies, they were fighting some enemy and wanted to use the moon as a base, which put us in the middle of a shooting gallery…and they were all way more advanced than we were. Any way you look at it, we all should've been dead a dozen times over. But we made it…against all odds, we survived and found a home. But that kind of luck has a price…and when it came time to pay up, I decided that, in the grand scheme of things, losing the use of a pair of legs is a pretty cheap bill. I was still alive, and could still pilot even, if I wanted to. And having Ally helped, too." He smiled. "So, whenever I get down about something, I remind myself what I have, and what I've been through…and it never compares…"

Nick smiled. "That's a nice way to look at it…but I don't have those experiences to draw on…"

Alan shook his head. "No, but you have something just as good…you have the future."

"The future?"

"Absolutely…you ever think about you and Jessie, how your life will be together?" He asked.

Nick nodded. "Sure…"

"How does it make you feel?"

"Good…I look forward to it…makes me want to make it happen…"

Alan raised his arms in a dismissive gesture. "There you are…"

Nick considered, then shook his head. "You're pretty something, uncle Al…"

Allison leaned on the controls, trying to coax more acceleration out of the eagle. All she wanted at that moment was to get back to the moonbase and check on her dad and Nick. Without their passenger module, there was no way to link up a boarding tube as they were currently docked together, and there would be no way for them to restore their systems without replacement parts. They were effectively incommunicado until they got back to the base, and Allison desperately needed some reassurance they were all right. The life readings didn't indicate any problems, but she wouldn't be satisfied until she heard her father's voice, talked to him. She keyed the communicator. "Fraser, how're you doing?" She asked.

"On my way, Ally." Came the reply. "ETA is two hours, forty-one minutes. Everything all right?"

"No…this thing's too slow…" She griped.

Fraser gave a slight chuckle. "I'm sure they're all right…" he said, then paused as a beeping got his attention. "Allison…I'm reading multiple contacts, about an hour's flight time behind you…" He reported.

Allison switched her scanners to aft view. "They're eagles…" She said softly, realizing what they must be. "They know…they're evacuating." She switched channels. "Eagle Two to Eagle fleet. Come in, Eagle fleet…" She called.

The monitor lit up with a familiar face. "Eagle nineteen to Eagle two. Reading you…" Pete Garforth replied.

"I see you've been keeping an eye on things…is that everyone?" She asked.

"Everyone who would come…about thirty or so elected to stay behind. I guess things didn't work out the way you planned…" He said solemnly.

"Yeah, well, we tried." Allison spat back. "Don't pretend this isn't what you wanted all along…"

"I never wanted this, Ally…" Pete began.

"Better hit those thrusters…the moon's getting farther away every second. You wouldn't want to get left behind…" Allison interrupted, then closed the channel. She tried to concentrate on her flying, but her reserve broke only moments later and she shook with wracking sobs, tears running freely down her face as she cried…

Jessica, Mentor and Joran walked back into Main Mission, the two men carrying Valin's still-unconscious form. They set him down by his compatriots. "We need to find something to secure them with…see what you can scrounge up, would you?" She asked. Mentor nodded. "What's the situation?" She asked Sandra.

"I've run multiple simulations, based on the data we've received. Every scenario ends the same: the comet fragment still collides with the Terra Alpha. And, with its density and speed, it will shatter the planet shortly after impact. Even a best case projection still renders the surface uninhabitable." She reported.

"Interception possibility?" Jessica asked.

"The only eagle close enough is Allison's, and she is out of charges. They all are. I've even gone over the possibility of ramming an eagle into the fragment and detonating the engines' reactors. No effect. There is nothing we can do now." She was interrupted by her console clamoring for attention. "Fraser is relaying data from the eagle's sensors. Reading several contacts approaching from the same vector as Allison's eagle."

"Put them up, maximum magnification." Jessica ordered. The screen lit up, showing a large cluster of ships moving towards the viewer, with Terra Alpha growing smaller in the distance. Their design was unmistakable. 

"Mom…" Jessica said. "She always planned for everything. She would've had them ready for a possible evacuation as soon as we left…I just wish it hadn't been necessary." She glanced over at Sandra. "Connect me with the lead eagle, please…" She asked.

Pete Garforth appeared. "Pete…" Jessica called. "We…well, there isn't much to say that you don't already know, I'm sure…obviously we failed. But we're glad to see everyone made it out. Is mom there with you?"

Pete's face grew tense. "Jessica…your mom…some of the others decided to stay behind. They were adamant, and there wasn't time…I'm sorry…"

"Mom…" She whispered, terrified. "You have to go back! You can't…"

"We can't go back…we barely have fuel enough to catch up to the base…" He protested.

"I don't care! You can't just leave her!" She yelled. "Oh my…David! Is David with her? Did he stay with…"

"David's fine…" Pete reassured here. "He's on one of the other eagles. Your mom made sure he got away…"

Jessica's eyes closed, and she muttered a quick thanks to whatever deity might be listening. "Pete…are you still in commlock range? Can you connect me to her?" She asked, almost begging.

"Checking…yes, just about. Stand by…" He replied, working controls. The picture went to static, then resolved into the face of Helena Russell.

"Mom!" Jessica called, relieved to see her.

"I knew you'd call, once you found out…" Helena admitted. "I'm sorry, Jessica honey, but it was always my choice. You knew that…both of you."

"I know…but it doesn't make it any easier…mom…" She choked on the words, her grief preventing them from coming out.

"I know, sweetie. You don't have to say anything…" Helena said, close to tears herself. "I…I want you to take care of David…he's going to be rather upset when he wakes up. I asked Bob to be as kind as possible with him…" She straightened, gathering herself. "Jessica…you have a responsibility now. It's up to you to look after our people…our family. Your father prepared you for this day from the moment you were born…I know it wasn't what you were expecting. It never is…seems to be our curse. But you have to make the best of it. You have to do now what we did, all those years ago…survive, live, and find a home for yourselves. A real home. The others can help…listen to them. You're not alone…"

Jessica's eyes were red with tears. "Mom…"

"I love you, Jessie…you and your brother both. Your father was proud of you, and so am I. Remember us, and be happy for us. We'll be together again…and we'll be watching over you all."

The picture began to break up, as the eagles moved further out of range. "I love you, mom!" Jessica wailed, reaching for the screen.

"Goodbye, my child…" Helena said, then static obliterated the transmission.

Jessica stared at the screen, her arm outstretched. "Goodbye…" She whispered. 

Sandra came over and put an arm around her, and Jessica leaned into her. But she couldn't let herself go…after a few moments, she rose up and wiped the tears from her face. "I…I need…a status report on the eagles. Can they all make it here before we're out of range?"

Sandra reluctantly pulled away and went back to her console. "Computer estimates, at present rate of consumption, the eagles will run out of fuel just short of Alpha. Our speed is just too great."

"How short is 'just short'?" She asked.

"Ten thousand kilometers."

"Close enough for the moon's gravity to finish the job and pull them in…where they'll crash on the surface." Jessica mused. She looked back to where Mentor and Joran were finishing securing the other Psychons. "Mentor…"She called. He looked over to her. "I think I know how we can solve that problem we were talking about…"

"So that's it…we can't make it…" Mathias said bluntly.

"Oh, we'll make it…we'll just crash instead of landing safely…" Pete replied on the monitor screen. There was a murmur of surprise from the crowd behind the doctor.

"So we abandoned our home only to die on the lunar surface, packed in like sardines…that's just great…" Bob shot back, angrily. "I thought we were still in range when we left…"

"So did we…seems we were wrong, or the moon's speed and trajectory were miscalculated. Either way, the result's the same…I just thought everyone should know." Pete's image winked out before Mathias could fire back a response.

A groan caught his attention; David stirred, grabbing his head and trying to sit up. Bob helped him; David leaned on him until he got a good look at his helper, then pushed away.

"Relax, David. The stimulant I gave you will make you queasy for a bit…" Mathias said.

"You shot me…" He protested.

"You didn't give me a choice…your mother told me to make sure you got on an eagle…"

"Of course she did…I should've known." He looked around. "Are we close to the moonbase yet?"

Bob paused a moment before answering. "Not yet…and we may not get there anyway…"

David looked at him. "Why?"

"The moon's moving away too fast. We'll run out of fuel just as we reach it, meaning we won't have any for a safe landing…" The doctor explained.

"A crash landing…just perfect. You should've left me back home…" David groaned.

"Looks that way, yeah…sorry, David…"

"You're sure this will work?"

Mentor looked at her coldly. "Positive. These computers have a hundred times the processing power of their predecessors. They could probably do it themselves just as well, maybe better." He suggested.

"Thank you, no…I'd prefer you at the controls…" She countered. She looked over at Joran. "I'm sorry if that caused you any pain…"

The Psychon shook his head. "I'm all right. It will take some getting used to, however…should be interesting to see how the others react, though…" He smiled.

Jessica agreed. "Okay…let's do it."

"Initiating sequence…links established. Green across the board." Mentor confirmed.

"Proceed…"

The eagle shuddered slightly as the fuelling port made contact. Allison confirmed solid seal on her board. "Be sure to save some for yourself…" She called. "You stepped on the gas pretty quick to get here…"

Fraser smiled. "I could never keep a pretty girl waiting…" He joked. He had gone to full thrust following their last conversation, cutting their rendezvous time down to just over two hours. Jokes aside, Allison suspected his urgency had to do with either the imminent impact of the comet with Terra Alpha, still visible though as little more than a green dot, or the fact that the refugee eagles behind her were rapidly running out of fuel themselves and his having some illusions that he could help them make the final leg to their new home. But no eagle could carry enough fuel for all of them. "Fuel transfer in progress…" he called.

Allison confirmed. She could see the gray sphere of the moon just beyond the viewports, moving away even as she watched. She'd called down to the moonbase concerning the fuel situation, but Sandra said only that they were working on a solution and had no more information. The reply puzzled her, as she could see no way anyone down there could help, as all the eagles were up here…her console buzzed, breaking her train of thought.

"Fraser…are you getting what I'm getting on the scanners?" She asked.

"I'm not sure…what are you getting?" He responded.

"Something's coming our way…from the moon." She said. "A lot of somethings…" She craned her neck to look out of the ports.

Closing rapidly on their position were…well, they were Eagles. But different…sleeker, not as bulky; that was the only way she could describe it. She did a quick count, and noted at least thirty of them. They were fast, too…faster than standard Eagles, for certain. They shot past her, and the ship shuddered from the close passes of the pressure wakes from their exhaust. "Did you see that?" She yelped at Fraser.

"I sure did…where did they come from?" He replied.

Her reply was cut off by another call. "Attention eagle fleet. Power down your engines and prepare for docking…" Jessica ordered on all the viewscreens. "Repeat; cut all engines and stand by for docking."

In Eagle One, Nick had been watching the refueling when the strange eagles passed. "Alan, look at this!" He called, as the first ones passed by. Carter strained in his seat, but managed to catch a glimpse of some. "What the hell?" He exclaimed. "I've never seen eagles like that before…what's going on?"

"Wouldn't it have been easier just to transmute new fuel into their tanks as they came into range?" Mentor asked, as he remote-piloted the new eagles into position with no small amount of help from the computer.

"That would've taken longer, and not used up as much energy. Besides, we needed new ships…those eagles are nearly fifty years old, in Earth time, and always breaking down. " Jessica replied, then looked to Joran. "Are you sure the new ships are stable? I don't want them reverting back to moon rocks again during this operation…" She asked.

Joran laughed. "Yes, I'm sure. The instability factor only applies in regards to living matter, which constantly tries to renew itself in its original form…hence the time limit on transformations. Metal and stone don't care what you turn them into…they'll stay that way until you turn them back."

"Well, that can't happen, now…I'm curious; if you went to the trouble to redesign the eagles, why hadn't you built any before now?"

"It wasn't necessary. We hadn't planned on going anywhere…but one must always plan for contingencies. We improved the design but kept the fundamentals unchanged, just like the rest of the base. It maintained the illusion that we were who we appeared to be…the original human inhabitants." He explained.

"Which is why Valin and the others appeared as they did when we arrived. I admit, it was pretty unnerving, seeing my father again, looking so young…" Jessica admitted.

"Yes…we learned about your people from the computer files left here. That's how we learned your language. But we didn't realize how much time had passed since your parents left their home solar system…"

"Yeah…and now they're leaving another one…" She said, with a hint of sadness. "Sahn, how long before impact?"

Sandra checked her readings. "Twenty-seven minutes."

Jessica nodded, and turned to the group of Psychons who were just beginning to recover from being stunned. They became indignant when they realized they were restrained, until they saw the Alphans covering them with lasers. The others had been revived earlier using stimulants…Jessica hadn't wanted to do it, but they needed the extra manpower. Valin noticed her coming up to them and stood up, furious.

"What have you done?" He demanded. "I can't sense the others…"

"Psychlos has been destroyed. It's dead." She said calmly, dispassionately.

Valin was outraged. He leapt for her, but was easily caught and pushed back. "Primitive barbarians! That computer was a lifetime's work…the final legacy of our world!"

"Then maybe you should of thought of that before you used it to murder ours…" She countered. "I have but one question…how did you plan to recover the…mineral…you hoped to make with all this? The moon's too far away now to go back by ship…"

Valin smiled. "We calculated every variable precisely. Six minutes after impact, internal pressures caused by the collision will cause your planet to explode, sending debris…including the newly created Psychronium… out in all directions at a far greater speed than this moon. The segments heading this way would be caught by the moon's gravity and land on the surface, where we would just gather them up. True, it would only be a small fraction of the total mass, but still enough to last us a lifetime…"

"Assuming you survived the impacts…" She countered.

"As I said, everything was taken into account. Our modifications are more than sufficient to protect us…"

"Not you…us…" Jessica corrected, indicating the Alphans. "You are going to take that ship you've constructed down in the hangar, presumably as an escape route in case you needed it, and leave here as quickly as possible. Unless you want to hang around until the rest of my people arrive, and explain to about four hundred plus grieving, angry humans that you're the one responsible for destroying their home in person. I'm sure they'll understand your reasons…"

Valin just stared at her, simmering in his fury.

"Escort them to their ship, please…" She asked the Alphans guarding them.

"Wait…" Joran said, as they were being led out. "I am going with them."

Jessica looked at him. "You can't be serious…you don't belong with them…"

"For once, the human is correct…" Valin spat.

"Is that what the rest of you say as well?" Joran asked the other Psychons. 

No one else spoke. 

"You see?" Joran said to Jessica. "Valin has crossed a line, now…the others will not go along with him anymore. They are good people, Jessica, when given a chance…and they are my people. I don't belong anywhere else."

"I understand. You have to look after your people, like I have to look after mine…I wish you luck, Joran." She said.

"Thank you…and I wish you the same. Goodbye…" He said to all of them. To Mentor, he paused and held out something. "You might appreciate this…I was not born on Psychon either, but my parents were. When they and the others here were forced to leave their world, they wished to take part of it with them. This..." He indicated a small disc in his hand. "…is a copy of all of Psychon's recorded literature, art, philosophy, music. Their…our…entire cultural heritage. Consider it…a legacy. An inheritance, from your mother's people."

Mentor accepted the disc, speechless. He looked at it, then to Joran. "Thank you…" He finally managed. Joran nodded, and followed his people and their escorts out of Main Mission. Mentor watched them go, then looked around the room. They all smiled. Jessica met his gaze and nodded. "Let's bring our people in…" She said. 

The comet fragment grew even brighter as it plunged through the atmosphere, leaving a fiery trial behind it. It shone bright as a star as it fell, the pressure wave preceding it obliterating everything in its path mere moments before it slammed into the planet's crust, causing an explosion a thousand times more powerful than the ones that had tried to destroy it. The blast wave spread out in all directions, circling the planet. The Alphans that remained met their end bravely, together, as they had every other challenge in their lives…all save Helena, who sat quietly beside her husband's grave, waiting in anticipation of their reunion…

The Alphans that had escaped gathered as they could in Main Mission, watching the end on the screen. There was a flare as the fragment hit, and many turned away at that moment, unable to continue. Jessica buried herself in Nick's arms, but forced herself to watch as the lush green was consumed with angry reds and oranges, until the whole planet was no more than a burning cinder. Cracks appeared, in reality fissures hundreds of miles wide, splitting the world under the tremendous pressures building within. Finally, with a blinding flash, it exploded…and the screen went blank, turned off by a discreet touch. The control center was quiet save for the sounds of crying…no one knew what to say. Jessica gazed through teary eyes around the room, at each of them…Alan, beside Sandra…David, his hand gripped tightly with Allison's…Mentor, his demeanor reserved as always, but the pain in his eyes betraying him…Fraser, clinging together with his wife and son…Bob, Pete, Tanya, all of her childhood friends…and she felt renewed grief for those that weren't there. She failed them, all of them…she clung tighter to Nick, wanting to hide from everything, from the responsibility she felt suffocating her…

David saw it and, though he spoke softly, his voice carried throughout the silent space. "What do we do now?" He asked.

Nick looked down at Jessica, then to David. He started to reply.

"The only thing we can…" Came Jessica's voice, shaken, but becoming clearer as she pulled away from Nick's broad chest. She knew what she had to do. She straightened, and composed herself as best she could. "What our friends, our families would want us to do…" She looked to each of them; her family.

"We go on…"

The Beginning… 


End file.
